Snow White and the Walking Dead (Part II)
by jennifbl
Summary: The CDC has gone up in smoke. The group is back on the road with no clear path. Guinevere steps up to take control but how will she cope with Shane breathing down her neck and will Rick fully take over her position in the group or work together with the Young Scot for the good of the group? And how will future events impact on Daryl and Gwen's relationship?
1. Herd

I'm slightly traumatized by what just happened. Not the almost being blown up bit but the part where we are once again out here, in danger, sleeping with one eye open all the time. Andrea wanted to stay behind, can't say I blame her. I would have too if I lost the last of my family if Nessa or Andy… no, I don't even want to think about it. I still have them… and Daryl. If I lost them I would not know what to do and being out here, exposed. One wrong move would determine the difference between life and death. Uhhh, I don't know any more.

We only drive for a little while when we stop just outside Atlanta and decide our next move. Shane jumps right in there and says we are going to Fort Benning and that is that and frankly, I don't have the energy to argue. It's the only shot we have. Speaking of energy, I pull the pills out of my pocket and take one dry, I hate pills but needs must, I have to be alert, especially now.

"Gwen, what do you think?" Rick asks, his voice pierces through my thoughts. I had turned my back to them while I took my pill.

I turn back around while stuffing the pill bottle in my pocket as if it was something to be ashamed of. "Sorry, what?" I ask

"Fort Benning?" He says staring at me like 'please make this decision'.

"It's the only idea we have, we can't just wander around and hope for the best anymore" I reply.

Shane grins at me and I don't want to know what he is thinking. I turn to look at the convoy, too many cars.

"We need to get rid of a couple of these vehicles." I state. "It's a long journey and we need the fuel"

Shane steps forward "you're right, T-Dog can lose the van and him and Andrea can ride in the RV with Dale and Glenn. Rick, Lori, Carl, Sophia and Carol have got a full car so that stays. Andrew and Nessa can keep their car. Daryl can dump his truck and use his bike, and you can ride with me." Shane states.

I give him a look of disbelief and Daryl wraps his arm around my waist protectively. I shake my head. "No that is still too many vehicles. You can dump your car too and ride in the RV. I'll ride with Daryl on the back of his bike."

Shane opens his mouth to protest when Rick steps in first "That's a good plan, we'll drain the vehicles we're leaving for the gas and move out"

Everyone sets about doing what they need to do. Glenn runs into Atlanta quickly and grabs some food for the journey. Others drain cars and move their things. As everyone is doing this Shane grabs my arm and turns me to look at him.

"You are not actually goin' to get on that bike?" He asks harshly.

I pull my arm away "Yeah I am. I wish I was the one driving it. Don't judge a book by its cover Shane, I'm not the damsel in distress you think I am and I do not need your protection."

I storm away from him and help Andy tune up my Honda. After that I move over to Daryl and help him with his bike, mostly I just stand and admire it. "I like it. It's a modified Triumph right? I'm more of a Harley girl."

Daryl looks at me in shock as he kicks the stand up on the bike so it can stand on its own and half sits on it "You like bikes? That's hot"

I grin back "Of course, one thing my daddy made sure I got into and that was cars and bikes. I was supposed to be a boy you know"

Daryl wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me between his legs "Well I'm sure glad ya came out the way ya did. There ain' a manly thin' about ya" He stares pointedly at my breasts as he says this.

I slap his arm lightly "Shut up" I lean in and kiss him lightly before pulling back and putting my forehead on his with a giggle. I pull away from him completely and turn to the rest of the group. I catch Shane's eye first and notice the death glare he is throwing at Daryl and I glare back before addressing the group.

"Okay guys lets get going lets get as much distance between us and the city as we can before nightfall." I shout loud enough for everyone to hear and they get moving instantly.

Daryl gets on his bike properly and kicks the rest back up and starts he engine. I climb on behind him and wrap my arms around his waist. He uses both his feet and the engine to move to the front of the convoy because he's leading it this time since the bike is the fastest and can scout ahead if needs be. He gets ahead and lifts his feet up in front of him where his foot rests are and takes off. I kiss the back of his neck and lean my head against his back to block the wind that is obscuring my vision.

A couple of hours later I notice a bunch of cars coming into view not to far ahead "Fuck" I sigh looking at the graveyard of cars completely blocking the road then back to the RV, the bike will fit but the RV's not got a bat in hells chance and neither does the Cherokee. Daryl slows down and groans and turns the bike and goes to the RV.

"Do you see a way through?" Dale asks.

Daryl shrugs and does a round trip around the RV and marks out a path wide enough to fit the RV. We make our way through slowly until I hear that awful strangled sound the RV makes when the hose goes. I tap Daryl on the shoulder and he stops. I sigh and climb off the bike and head over the RV. I motion to Dale if I can look under the grill and he nods. I do so and step back slightly as fuck loads of smoke hits me in the face.

I stare at the busted hose with very little hope for it. Dale comes out the RV and says "I said it, didn't I say it? A thousand times, dead in the water"

"Problem, Dale?" Shane asks standing behind me.

"Just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of…" Dale looks around himself realising where we actually are. I close the hood and shake my head with a small smile.

"Okay that was dumb" He states watching Daryl raid a car in front of the RV.

"If you can't find a radiator hose here... There's a whole bunch of stuff we can find." Daryl states going through bags.

"I can siphon more fuel from these cars for a start" T-Dog states.

"Maybe some water" Carol states.

"Or food" Glenn says.

"This is a graveyard" Lori states and we all pause and look at each other awkwardly. "I don't know how I feel about this" She finishes.

"Come on, y'all. Just look around, gather what you can." Shane states completely ignoring Lori's comment.

I move away and start going through cars, targeting those that don't have dead people in them. I ignore the baby seats and the bottles and the clothes. It just reminds me of my three year old niece and I do not want to think about that baby right now. I will never discover if she is alive or not, or her mother, my oldest sister, for that matter. I find some rotten food which is useless, honestly who carries perishables? Then some cans of food, these will be useful. I find some ibuprofen, luxury goods like chocolate and candy the kids might like these, and the chocolates are for us women when we need it. I smile slightly at myself before opening suitcases for clothes for Nessa and I and look for some clothes that Andy and Daryl might wear. My boys need more than one shirt too; especially if I'm going to be sleeping with the older man. I blush heavily at the idea of me and Daryl getting to that point, which I hope is sooner rather than later.

"Hey Andy, Do you like these trousers?" I pull out a pair of awful golf trousers from a suitcase in a minivan and Andy who is searching the car behind me cringes. I laugh and look over at Nessa who is also laughing one car down from me.

I'm searching away when I hear Rick whisper "Gwen! Get under a car!" I look at him questionably when I notice a whole bunch of walkers in the distance.

"Oh, Jesus!" I grab Andy and pull him down and gesture for Nessa to do the same. I push Andy under the minivan and follow after him.

I strain my neck to see Nessa doing the same with the car behind us. I look around the cars around me and I can't see Daryl anywhere. I can see everyone else but not Daryl or T-Dog. My fear escalates as I hear the walkers grunting then two seconds later they are shuffling past the minivan. Andy and I press into each other more to keep as far under the car as we both can. I want to close my eyes but I can't bring myself to do so. I keep them wide open out of fear, pure fear. If one of them trips and notices us, we're fucked! I feel like I'm under here for hours as the hundred of walkers shuffle by, thankfully unaware of our existence so far. I haven't heard a scream or a yell to tell me otherwise. My heart is still pounding like a jackhammer because I can't see Daryl. Where is he?

Finally, the shuffling stops. Andy tries to move out but I grab him and shake my head and hold up two fingers. He nods and I strain my neck to look at Nessa and do the same. She nods too. A minute or so later I hear a small scream and look up and Sophia is disappearing under the bar on the highway followed by two walkers. Rick is soon to follow. I roll out from under the minivan and head in the same direction only to be stopped by two solid arms wrapping around my waist and holding me back.

I twist in the arms and see Daryl. I let out an unintentional, strangled cry of relief and collapse into him. I feel horrible being so relieved but I'm so glad he is alive, he stinks but he's alive. He holds me into him tightly and strokes my hair.

I push away from him lightly. "I should help Rick" I whisper, barely audible. But Daryl heard me.

"No ya won't! You'll wait till he gets back wi' the girl" He snaps tightening his grip again. I surrender.


	2. Sophia

A good while later Rick arrives without Sophia. He looks around at us expectantly "Did she come back here?" He asks

"No!" Carol cries.

I move forward, taking control of the growing panic. "Where did you leave her?" I ask.

He leads me, Daryl, Shane and Glenn off into the woods and into a river. "I left her right here" Rick states indicating to a concealed hole in the river bank. "I drew the walkers way off in that direction up the creek." He continues pointing off into the woods at the other side of the river. "She was gone by the time I got back here. I figured she just took off and ran back to the group. I told her go that way and keep the sun on her left shoulder." He states his voice sounding more and more panicked.

I place a hand on his shoulder "She's so small. How far can one little girl get? We'll find her" I state trying to sound reassuring.

Daryl looks in the direction Rick said that he sent Sophia and says to Glenn "Hey, short round, why don't you step off to one side? You're mucking up the trail."

I hit his bicep "Don't be rude!" I scold. I try to climb up the river bank again but I can't. Lack of balance meant that I just slide right back into the river again.

Nobody really seemed to notice as Shane speaks "Assuming she knows her left from her right."

"Shane, she understood me fine." Rick snaps

"Kid's tired and scared, man. She had her a close call with two walkers. Got to wonder how much of what you said stuck." Shane states. I agree for once. She's only little.

"I got clear prints right here. She did like you said, headed back to the highway." Daryl states stepping up onto the river bank with help from Shane.

I go next and as Shane leans to offer his hand, Daryl nudges him out of the way and grabs my hand instead. He pretty much has to lift me out.

"Let's spread out, make our way back." Daryl states

"She couldn't have gotten far" Shane mimics me from earlier.

"Hey, we gonna find her. She'll be tuckered out hiding in a bush somewhere" Shane tells Rick.

I follow close behind Daryl as he tracks….something through the woods until he stops and kneels down and stares at the ground confused.

"She was doing just fine till right here. All she had to do was keep going. She veered off that way" Daryl states pointing in he opposite direction to the highway.

"Why would she do that?" Glenn asks.

Shane offers a theory "Maybe she saw something that spooked her, made her run off."

"A walker?" Glenn asks panicked

Daryl shakes his head "I don't see any other footprints. Just hers."

Panic rises in my throat for Sophia, what is she playing at?

Shane breaks my thought process "So what do we do? All of us press on?"

"No, better if you and Glenn get back up to the highway. People are gonna start panicking. Let them know we're on her trail doing everything we can. But most of all, keep everybody calm." Rick states.

"What about Gwen?" Shane asks

"Sophia will more likely respond to Gwen than to either Daryl or me" Rick states.

Shane can't argue with that "I'll keep 'em busy scavenging cars. Think up a few other chores. I'll keep 'em occupied." He says then gestures to Glenn to follow him.

Daryl stands up and leads on, Rick and I follow. After a while Daryl slows and steps carefully.

"Tracks are gone" Rick states. I look at the floor automatically even though I know I wouldn't see tracks even if they were there.

"No, they're faint, but they ain't gone. She came through here" Daryl states.

"I don't see anything. Dirt, grass." Rick states.

"You want a lesson in tracking or you want to find that girl and get our ass off that interstate?" Daryl says which earns him another slap.

"Do you go out of your way to be rude or something?" I snap quietly. I'm scared to be loud.

Daryl mutters something and keeps walking. We continue through the woods slowly when we hear a rustling of leaves and we all drop to the ground. I pull my knife out and hold onto it tightly as Rick points in a direction and we raise half up and head quickly and quietly towards the noise. Praying and hoping its Sophia. Unfortunately though, it is only a walker. I hold back a sigh of disappointment as Daryl motions for Rick to go one way, himself to go another and for me to hang back. I glare at him but do so, moving forward slowly as to not alert the walker or the boys of my presence.

Rick distracts the walker and Daryl puts a bolt through its head. I move forward quickly and properly this time, reaching the boys as Daryl calls Sophia's name. Rick puts on gloves and kneels down next to the walker and inspects its finger nails and teeth for flesh. Which he tell Daryl when he asks.

He Flips it over and investigates its mouth "It fed recently. It has flesh caught in its teeth."

My stomach drops, oh no.

"What kind of flesh?" Daryl asks

"There is only one way to know for sure" I state.

They both look at me "cut him open" I state.

Rick pulls out his knife but Daryl stops him "Here, I'll do it. How many kills you skin and gut in your life? Anyway, mine is sharper." And pulls out his hunting knife.

He plunges it into the walker and a normal person would feel like, or would, throw up but the smell of decomposing flesh is not new to me. Daryl stabs and cuts at the walker over and over again…no y-incision here.

He puts down his knife and says "Now here comes the bad part" He sticks his gloved hands into the walkers gut and feels around for the stomach.

He pulls out bits of muscle and organs and tosses them aside, the further in he gets the more Rick looks like he is about the throw up. I watch and can't help but point out, in my head, how not procedure like this is. Old habits die hard.

"Yeah, Hoss had a big meal not long ago. I feel it in there." Daryl states before ripping the stomach out of the walker.

I move forward and ask for Ricks gloves. He hands them to me and I put them on "I got this boys, it's kind of my job"

I take my knife and gently slice open the stomach as Daryl asks "I thought your job was bones?"

"It is, but its very rare to get someone who is completely skeletonised that part I usually have to do myself. Removing remaining organs and muscle" I inspect the stomach contents while talking pulling out a clear non human bone "And once I had to inspect a bear's stomach because it had got a hold of some dead guys arm and swallowed it whole." I hold the bone up to the light. "This isn't human, it's a rodent of some sort, a woodchuck maybe?"

I drop the bone and give the gloves back to Rick "At least we know" Rick states.

Daryl agrees.

I stand up feeling a gut wrenching disappointment, where is she? "Let's head back, we're not going to find anyone when night comes" I state

Both men stand up and nod. Rick leads the way but Daryl stops me momentarily and gently wipes something wet off of my cheek then steps back "Blood" he mutters and follows Rick. I blush heavily and follow them both.

We reach the highway and hear someone say "Oh God, they're back!"

Carol looks extremely disappointed and scared when she notices we don't have her daughter, dead or alive. "You didn't find her?" She asks through tears.

"Her trail went cold" Rick states. "We'll pick it up at first light"

"You can't leave my daughter out there on her own to spend the night alone in the woods" Carol pleads, the tears threatening to spill over.

"Out in the dark's no good. We'd just be tripping over ourselves. More people get lost." Daryl says in a nice tone which surprises me.

"But she's 12. She can't be out there on her own. You didn't find anything?" Carol asks the tears running down her face, her voice desperate and cracking.

"I know this is hard. But I'm asking you not to panic. We know she was out there." Rick states calmly but I can hear a hint of panic in his tone.

"And we tracked her for a while" Daryl says.

"We have to make this an organized effort. Daryl knows the woods better than anybody. I've asked him to oversee this." Rick states loud enough for everyone to hear.

Carol staggers over to me and grabs my face between her hands and looks from my face to my once white vest top then back to my face "Is this blood?" she asks panicked, rubbing at my face with her thumbs.

I stare at her wide eyed wandering where this concern for me came from. We have been close but not to this level.

"We took down a walker" Rick states.

Carol droops slightly as if all of her energy had been taken out of her. I hold onto her to ensure she doesn't collapse to the floor. "A walker? Oh god" She whispers.

"There was no sign it was ever anywhere near Sophia." Rick states.

"How can you know that?" Andrea asks.

Rick and I remain silent but Daryl answers "We cut the son of a bitch open, made sure." Nessa's eyes went straight to me.

"Oh God." Carol whispers over and over.

I lower her down onto the bar of the highway and Lori sits next to her. "How could you just leave her out there to begin with?" Carol snaps at Rick "How could you just leave her?"

Lori and I exchange surprised look at the fact Carol was blaming Rick.

"Those two walkers were on us. I had to draw them off. It was her best chance." Rick replies sound as shocked as Lori and I were.

"Sounds like he didn't have a choice, Carol." Shane speaks up for the first time.

"How was she supposed to find her way back on her own? She's just a child. She's just a child." She cries, breaking down and Lori holds onto her

"It was my only option. The only choice I could make." Rick pleads desperately, trying to make Carol understand

"I'm sure nobody doubts that." Shane says leaning against the bar.

"My little girl got left in the woods." Carol cries.

I step away from her slowly and look at Rick, who looks at me and motions his head for me to follow him. I squeeze Carol's shoulder one more time before following Rick. Daryl is right behind me. Rick, Daryl and I talk for hours, even after everyone else went to sleep, about how we are going to find Sophia. Eventually I become so tired I literally collapse into Daryl. He sends me to the RV not listening to any of my protests.


	3. Injured

I had an awful sleep, if you could call it that, lying on the floor of the RV I kept waking up to the slightest gust of wind. Eventually I gave up about an hour before the sun began to rise.

Rick and Daryl were awake shortly after me, the rest followed. We all gathered around a car and Rick lays out an arsenal of non loud weapons. Everyone is searching for Sophia, except from Dale, T-Dog and Carl.

"Everyone takes a weapon." Rick states.

"These aren't the type of weapons we need" Andrea states defiantly "What about the guns?"

I let out an aggravated sigh and pick out the sharpest looking thing I could see. Lori followed my example and Nessa, Andy and Glenn followed after that.

"We've been over that. Daryl, Rick, Gwen and I are carrying. We can't have people popping off rounds every time a tree rustles." Shane states.

"It's not the trees I'm worried about." Andrea says.

"Say somebody fires at the wrong moment, a herd happens to be passing by. See, then it's game over for all of us. So you need to get over it." Shane snaps.

Andrea refuses to let it go and turns on me "Why does Gwen get to carry? She's British! It's illegal to have guns there so what does she know about them."

I simply smile and say "There is a lot you don't know about me"

"Did your daddy own an illegal gun ring or something?" She snaps, the look in her eyes tells me she immediately regretted what she said.

Nessa steps forward threateningly "What the hell did you just say about my dad?"

I hold out my arm to still Nessa's movement and I just smile "No, I used to work in an arms and ammunitions factory for the army when I was an undergrad. Had to pay for rent somehow, that is how I know my way around a gun"

"Yeah, not everyone is born with a silver spoon in their mouth" Nessa snaps

Then Andrea was silent after that.

"The idea is to take the creek up about five miles, turn around and come back down the other side. Chances are she'll be by the creek. It's her only landmark." Daryl says before walking off

"Stay quiet and stay sharp. Keep space between you but always stay within sight of each other." Rick states.

"Everybody assemble your packs" Shane states.

My bag is already on my back and I check on Nessa and Andy. Nessa is glaring at Andrea "Bitch has some nerve questioning you like"

"Don't bother me" I state with a shrug.

"Aunt Nessa's right though, just because she lost someone it doesn't give her bitching rights. We've all lost people" Andrew snaps.

"Why don't we lead by example and not bitch about her?" I state calmly.

They nod. I hear Andrea arguing with Dale about the CDC and I try to ignore it. Nessa scoffs and wanders over to Daryl who is waiting at the edge of the highway. Andy and I exchange a look before following her. Not too long after the whole group has caught up and we begin our search for Sophia.

We walk through the woods, Daryl taking the lead followed by myself then Rick. We come across a tent and Daryl squats down and I do the same. Rick motions for the others to copy.

"Do you think she could be in there?" Shane asks.

"There could be a whole bunch of things in there" Daryl replies as he stands straight, crossbow up and walks slowly towards the tent, I follow him, gripping my gun tightly, not intending to use it, only if its completely necessary.

Daryl puts his hand up for Rick, Shane and I to stop and does some hand signal. I just look at him confused assuming these two know what it means. Daryl edges towards the tent slowly pulling his knife out. He looks around the tent, trying to see into it without opening it. He looks back at us and shrugs.

Rick calls Carol's name softly and motions for her to come over. She moves towards us quickly. She looks nervous as Rick leads her forward closer to the tent and away from us. He whispers something to her and Carol nods.

"Sophia, sweetie, are you in there? Sophia, it's mommy. Sophia. We're all here, baby. It's mommy." Carol calls nervously.

Nothing happens and no one answers. I head over to the tent to back Daryl up as he unzips the tent really slowly and my heart hammers against my chest, adrenaline courses through my veins. The smell of human decay escapes the tent and hits Rick, Daryl and I in the face. Daryl coughs as quietly as he can before stepping into the tent slowly. I hold my breath as he does so, the smell is really affecting the guys but it doesn't get me as bad…probably because I'm holding my breath and I'm kind of used to the smell of decaying bodies.

"Daryl?" Carol calls

A few moments later he steps out "It ain't her" I let my breath out.

The group give an audible sigh and you could cut the disappointment in the air with a knife.

"What's in there?" Andrea asks.

"Some guy. Did what Jenner said: opted out. Ain't that what he called it" Daryl replies.

A loud bell echoes through the air making the entire group jump in fear. My heart literally jumps and I can feel the heart palpitations banging against my chest. I wince in pain but ignore it as the others decide which way the noise is coming from and we run in that direction.

We come out into a clearing and see a Church. "That can't be it, no steeple" Shane states.

Rick ignores him and takes off at a run. I follow him, my heart straining against my chest. We reach the door and Rick motions us to stay quiet. Rick stands on one side, Daryl, the others and myself at the bottom of the stairs with Shane in front of me.

They open the door and there are only three walkers inside and the Shane, Rick and Daryl take care of them. "Sophia!" Daryl shouts.

This causes Nessa to jump, her weapon nearly hits my face. I step back slightly. She didn't notice.

"I'm telling you it's the wrong church. It's got no steeple, Rick" Shane whispers.

The bells chime again and Nessa jumps again but this time her weapon does hit me. The point catches on the skin just under my hair line on my temple and rips down and releasing just above my eyebrow. I hiss and stagger back, falling to the floor. The others fail to notice and run outside to identify the noise. Nessa moves forward but notices the blood on the weapon she looks panicked and spins around noticing the blood on my face, probably looking worse than it is, and screams bloody murder. The bells stops and the others bolt back inside.

She drops to her knees and presses her hand against my head "Oh God! Oh God! Gwen, I'm so sorry!"

"What's wrong?" Rick shouts.

"Nothing" I call from the floor. "She's overreacting."

He looks down at me and his eyes widen "Oh God!"

He kneels down next to me and moves Nessa's hand and puts pressure on the wound. Nessa steps back, her hands covered in blood. Daryl and Shane both rush over. Shane reaches me first and grabs my face then stands up and turns on Nessa "What did you do!" He screams at her.

"Don't yell at her!" I snap "It was an accident!"

"How can you accidentally do that?" He interrogates her. Nessa looks guilty, a rare look to cross her face, I don't like it. I stagger up and Ricks hand falls from my head. I feel the blood run down my face and onto my chest and into my eye, blurring my vision.

I stand in front of Nessa "I said leave her alone! She jumped and she scratched me"

"That's not a scratch!" Shane snaps.

"Who cares, you do not get to interrogate my sister!" I snap back

"I'm looking out for you!" He snaps back grabbing my arm.

I pull my arm back "I do not need you to look out for me. I can take care of myself"

He glares at me before storming out of the Church. Nessa moves forward "I'm so sorry!"

"It's my own fault. I shouldn't have been standing so close to you." I reply.

Daryl lowers me down onto a pew and places a rag on my head trying to stop the bleeding. He takes it away and inspects the wound "Damn that's deep" He mutters.

Nessa grabs my hand and squeezes it saying 'I'm sorry' over and over.

Andy holds her shoulder. "Stop it, Aunt Nessa!"

"Andy could you take her outside, get her some fresh air before she has a panic attack" He nods and leads her out.

I look at Daryl and smile "Thank you"

He smiles at me "No problem"

I hiss as he presses too hard "Sorry"

"It's okay, it hurts like a bitch though!" I laugh "Trust me to get stabbed by a Scottish girl"

He looks at me confused. I explain "We don't really have guns in Scotland so people tend to stab people. Especially in the area I'm from, people stab folk left right and centre"

He nods "You been stabbed before?"

I nod "Once, but to be fair they weren't aiming for me."

He chuckles "You defending someone, or wrong place wrong time?"

"Defending someone, slightly unintentionally, my friend from back home wasn't exactly in everyone's good books. These girls came out of nowhere and pulled out a knife, I didn't think they would actually do anything. The girl lunged for my friend but I automatically stood in front of her. The girl panicked and tried to stop but she ended stabbing me in the arm, chipped bone, blood everywhere. They screamed and bolted. I'm just sitting there like: really? Did you just do that and run away?"

He laughed at my story and pulled the rag back and frowns. "It's not stopping."

"My blood is thin due to my anemia. It's not as bad as it looks, I think."

He helps me up and we walk outside. I notice Shane and Rick talking in the distance then Shane heads over to us "Y'all gonna follow the Creek Bed back, okay? Daryl, you're in charge. Me and Rick, we're just gonna hang back, search this area another hour or so just to be thorough."

"You're splittin' us up? You sure?" Daryl asks.

"Yeah, Gwen needs to be patched up properly so you guys need to head back. We'll catch up"

"I want to stay too" says Carl "I'm her friend"

Lori smiles "Just be careful okay?"

"I will"

"When did you start growing up?" Lori asks giving him a hug.

Rick walks over to Lori and kisses her "I'll be along soon enough." She nods and begins to walk off "Here, take this." Rick says holding out his gun "Remember how to use it?"

"I'm not taking your gun and leaving you unarmed." Lori states

"Here, got a spare. Take it." Daryl states, handing over an unfamiliar gun.

Lori takes it and we head off.

Halfway back to the highway Carol asks "So this is it?" Then she sits on a fallen tree "This is the whole plan?"

The rest of the group stops, which annoys me, my arm is going numb from holding this rag on my head for so long. Nessa must have seen the look on my face because she takes over holding it. I smile at her appreciatively.

"I guess the plan is to whittle us down into smaller and smaller groups." Daryl states leaning against a tree.

"Carrying knives and pointy sticks." Andrea states then turns her attention to Lori "I see you have a gun."

Lori looks at her surprised then with annoyance and holds out the gun "Why, you want it? Here, take it." Andrea takes the gun and Lori continues "I'm sick of the looks you're giving me. All of you, with an exception of one" She states looking directly at me.

Then she turns to Carol "Honey, I can't imagine what you're going through. And I would do anything to stop it. But you have got to stop blaming Rick. It is in your face every time you look at him. When Sophia ran he didn't hesitate, did he? Not for a second." She states then turns to the rest of us "I don't know that any of us would have gone after her the way he did or made the hard decisions that he had to make or that anybody could have done it any differently. Anybody? Y'all look to him and then you blame him when he's not perfect. If you think you can do this without him, go right ahead. Nobody is stopping you."

I smile slightly at her thinking, It's about time someone said it. Andrea hands the gun back and says "We should keep moving"

I take the rag back off of Nessa and keep going with everyone else.

I catch up to Lori "That was one hell of a speech"

She sighs "Despite having you, Rick and Shane, their never happy. You are doing everything you can, giving us hope and keeping us safe…" She trails off.

I take her hand and we continue walking together.


	4. Blood

My head has still not stopped bleeding. The rag that Daryl gave me is officially and completely soaked through. I suddenly hear a small bang in the distance that sounded kind of like a gunshot and it echoed all over the woods around us. The rest of the group seemed to have noticed too because we all stopped.

"What was that?" Lori asks.

"It kind of sounded like a gun" I reply

"We gotta keep going" Daryl states and starts off again.

Lori and I share a concerned look but keep going. After a while Lori stops and turns around.

"You still worrying about it?" Andrea asks

"It was a gunshot" Lori states.

"We all heard it" Daryl says.

"Why one- Why just one gunshot?" Lori asks looking steadily more worried.

Daryl shrugs "Maybe they took down a walker"

"Please don't patronize me. You know Rick wouldn't risk a gunshot to put down one walker, or Shane. They'd do it quietly." Lori snaps

"Shouldn't they have caught up with us by now?" Carol asks

"There's nothing we can do about it, anyway, can't run around these woods chasing echoes." Daryl says calmly.

"Daryl's right, besides it might have been someone else. We don't know how many people are hiding in these woods" Andy states.

"So what do we do?" Lori asks

"Same as we've been. Beat the bush for Sophia, work our way back to the highway." Daryl replies.

"I'm sure they'll hook up with us back at the RV" Andrea says reassuringly

I chew my lip and look behind me once more feeling slightly uneasy then follow the rest of them. I hear Andrea speak to Carol but I don't pay attention. I think about the gunshot, did they get attacked by a herd? Were they really stupid enough to take down one walker with their gun? Is someone hurt?

Then I hear Carol say "I just hope she doesn't end up like Amy"

That catches my attention. My eyes go straight to Andrea who looks shocked and hurt. Carol realising what she said looks distraught and grabs Andrea "Oh God, that was the worst thing I've ever said"

Andrea forces a smile "We're all hoping and praying with you, for what it's worth"

Daryl storms up to them "Not a damn thing. It's a waste of time, all this hopin' and prayin'. We're gonna locate that little girl. She's gonna be just fine. Am I the only one zen around here? Good lord."

I felt my heart melt slightly at the determination of his voice and how sweet he is being. I feel horrible that all I want to do is jump him but I contain myself and carry on walking.

After a while we stop and Daryl says "We'll lose the light before too long. I think we should call it"

"We should head back" I state looking up at the sky, regretting it the second I do it when I feel light headed and dizzy.

"We'll pick it up again tomorrow?" Carol asks.

"Yeah, we'll find her tomorrow" I reply.

We finally head back to the highway. I get continuously more light-headed with each step.

"How much further?" asks Nessa, looking over at me concerned.

"Not much… maybe a hundred yards as the crow flies" Daryl replies

"Too bad we're not crows" Andrea mutters.

Next thing I hear is Andrea screaming. I spin around to see she had wandered off. "Andrea!" Lori screams and we run in the directions of her screams.

By the time we reach her some girl on a horse appears and just knocks the walker right off of Andrea. She looks at Andrea and asks "Lori? Lori Grimes?"

"I'm Lori"

The girl turns to look at Lori "Rick sent me- You've got to come now."

Lori looks at her panicked "What?"

"There's been an accident, Carl's been shot" She explains and my mouth drops open "He's still alive but you've gotta come now. Rick needs you- just come!" She continues.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa! We don't know this girl. You can't get on that horse." Daryl protests as Lori climbs onto the horse.

The girl looks at us "Rick said you had others on the highway, that big traffic snarl?"

Glenn nods "Uh huh"

"Backtrack to Fairburn road. Two miles down is our farm. You'll see the mailbox- Name's Greene- Hi-yah!" The girl takes off with Lori back through the woods.

The walker sits up and groans Nessa grips my arm. Daryl on the other hand just lifts his crossbow and shoots it in the head "Shut up" and he storms away.

We head back to the highway quickly. Glenn goes first and tells Dale Carl's been shot.

"Shot? What do you mean shot?" Dale asks looking panicked.

"I don't know, Dale. I wasn't there. All I know is this chick rode out of nowhere like Zorro on a horse and took Lori." Glenn explains

"You let her?" Dale asks Daryl, shocked.

"Climbed down out of my asshole, man. Rick sent her. She knew Lori's name and Carl's." Daryl snaps

"And I heard screams was that you?" he asks Andrea but she ignores him.

"She got attacked by a walker. It was a close call." Glenn says

"Andrea, are you alright?" Dale calls after her.

She simply slams the RV's door. He turns to look at me and his eyes widen.

"What the hell happened to you?" He asks

I pull the bloody rag away from my head to see that it is now definitely useless and there is blood all over my hands. "It was an accident"

"I accidentally stabbed her in the head" Nessa mutters.

"She shouldn't be allowed near sharp objects" I joke with a grin.

Nessa glares at me, I hiss "Ahh too soon?"

She fights a smile and shakes her head. "We should patch that up" Dale states

"With what?" I ask "T-dog's tied together with duct tape"

"We should take you to that farm" Andy states.

"What farm?" Dale asks.

Andy explains what the girl says and Dale nods "We should go now"

Carol shakes her head "I won't do it! We can't just leave"

"Carol the group is split. We're scattered and weak" Dale says.

"What if she comes back and we're not here?" She pauses and looks at us "It could happen"

"If Sophia found her way back and we were gone, that would be awful." Andrea states.

"Okay. We gotta plan for this. I say tomorrow morning is soon enough to pull up stakes. Give us a chance to rig a big sign, leave her some supplies. I'll hold here tonight, stay with the RV." Daryl states.

"If the RV's stayin' I am too" Dale says

Carol nods at them "Thank you, thank you both"

"I'm in" Andrea states.

"Well if you're all staying then-" Glenn starts but is cut off by Dale

"Not you Glenn- You're going. Take Carol's Cherokee." Dale states.

"Me? Why is it always me?" Glenn complains.

"You have to find this farm, reconnect with our people and see what's going on- But most important, you have to get T-Dog there. This is not an option. That cut has gone from bad to worse. He has a very serious blood infection. Get him to that farm. See if they have any antibiotics. Because if not, T-Dog will die, no joke. Gwen too, that head wound has still not stopped bleeding." Dale's right it hasn't and even though I'm putting on a brave face but my vision is now getting blurry.

Daryl walks over to his bike and pulls out a clear plastic bag full of prescription drugs and he picks up a rag and throws it at Dale "Keep your oily rags off my brothers motorcycle" He open the bag and looks through the drugs "Why'd you wait till now to say anything? Got my brother's stash. Crystal, x- Don't need that." He then pulls out a bottle and chucks it to Glenn "Got some kick-ass painkillers" He continues to rummage and pulls out another bottle and tosses it to Dale "Doxycycline. Not the generic stuff neither. It's first class. Merle got the clap on occasion" Daryl shrugs then takes the bag back to his bike.

I watch him go, that was one big ass bag of illegal shit! There was enough to kill an elephant. I move off the hood of the car I'm sitting on and get so dizzy I physically can't stand. I fall to my knees with a groan and place both hands on the floor and watch the blood drip onto the road feeling nauseous.

"Gwen!" Nessa cries dropping down next to me.

I swat her hand away "I'm fine" but my words sound slurred.

"Gwen, look at me" Daryl's voice sounds.

I shake my head before collapsing onto his knees then darkness.


	5. Snow White and Rose Red

**Nessa's P.O.V**

Guinevere and I never always got on as well as we do now. I remember my dad telling me when I was younger that he had never seen two sisters as close as Gwen and I. I scoffed Gwen and I close? That little brat? I know now, I was jealous. Gwen was 'the good one'. Smart, sweet and an all-round good person. Where I went out and got drunk and acted like a dick, she concentrated in school and got good grades. It wasn't until I moved home, because I became bankrupt, that we realised how great we are as a team. Dad was right. We went to uni together after that. The moment we stepped into that classroom, all eyes fell on us. Gwen's strange coloured eyes, the same as our grandfathers, sweep across the room, carefully inspecting each face with calculating looks. Her eyes feel like they peer into your soul and my eyes are so dark, Gwen calls them Demon eyes. In our second year we moved in together and we've been stuck together ever since, through good times and bad. We're sisters and it took us 17 years to act like it.

I can't get over the fact I stabbed Gwen, she was so chilled out by it, Shane was not. I tune out of the conversation about who's staying and who's going to this farm. Instead I watch Gwen carefully. She's acting tough but what colour she had has now gone from her face. She's concentrating on the conversation a little too hard and her face is covered with her own blood. She slides off the car bonnet she is sitting on and her eyes widen before she plummets to the ground and lands on her hands and knees harshly.

My own eyes widen "Gwen!" I shout in a panic and drop to her side.

She swats my hand away when I try and help her up "I'm fine" her voice is weak and slurred

Daryl kneels down in front of her. My eyes flick to him and I'm shocked by the look of apprehension on his face. He puts his hands on her shoulders firmly "Gwen, look at me"

She shakes her head and collapses.

My heart drops into my stomach as I watch Gwen fall forward onto Daryl and doesn't move. Andy drops down at the other side of her his eyes wide and panicked for his other Aunt. Daryl pauses for only a second before jumping into action. He scoops Gwen up in his arms and rushes to Carol's Cherokee. Andy follows quickly and opens the back door for him as he slides my best friend into the backseat. I run around the other side and slide into the back and put my baby sister's head onto my lap.

Glenn and T-dog get into the front. Daryl looks at Glenn and snaps "Take her to that damn farm as quick as you can. I'll be right behind you"

I notice him give Carol a guilty look but she nods looking scared for Gwen. I roll down the window "Andy, you stay in Daryl's place so you can bring Gwen's car tomorrow"

He nods. Glenn takes off, turning the car around and bombing it down the highway. I look down at Gwen with fear, fearing for her life! Her face is completely covered in dry and wet blood as is her chest and neck, beneath that her skin is paper white, whiter than usual which is white! Her skin is freezing yet she is sweating. I look away from her with tears in my eyes. It's my fault, if she dies, my worst fear will be realised… I caused my little sisters death.

I hear Daryl's motorbike not far behind us. We reach the farm and Glenn runs out to open the gate. He drives through, rushes back out and closes it behind Daryl. I hear Daryl yell at him and he looks flushed when he jumps back in the car. We get to a big white farm house and Daryl is already opening the door and lifting Gwen out before Glenn turns the engine off.

I scurry out quickly and the same girl that was on the horse is staring at Gwen "Was she bit?"

"She was stabbed" Daryl growls at her.

"In here" she states opening the door and shouting for her dad.

An older man rushes out and he looks shocked to see Gwen. "What happened to her?" he asks as he ushers Daryl to follow him.

I hear Daryl explain but I stop moving. I can't see her like that. Rick and Lori run out of a room and look at me shocked. "Was that Gwen?" Lori asks, looking positively worried.

I nod unable to speak. Lori lowers me into a seat and grabs my shaking hands.

"Don't worry about me" I mutter "Go to your son"

She remains where she is holding my hands.

What feels like hours but I know is only seconds Daryl comes bounding out of the room "What blood type is Gwen?" He shouts.

"O positive" I reply. I open my mouth to say 'same as me' but he's all ready running back to the room. He must be too.

I almost take her life, he saves it… fair… not!

I stand up and go to the room Gwen is in and see Daryl having his blood taken by an older blonde woman. It angers me slightly Gwen and I were doing just fine till he came along. I instantly feel awful. He has been nothing but good to Gwen.

I speak up "I'm O positive too and so is our nephew" I state.

"I've got it" Daryl snaps at me

That angers me "She's my damn sister!"

Daryl doesn't respond to my anger.

I look away from Daryl and down at Gwen. The man has cleaned her wound and I can see how nasty it is, it's deep and quite long.

"She's lucky she didn't lose her eye" The man states as he attaches an IV to her wrist. "I need to give her stitches, hopefully she won't wake up because it will hurt"

I watch with my breath held as the woman hands a needle over to him and he begins to stitch up Gwen's head. Thankfully she didn't wake up.

"She lost a lot more blood than she should have. Has she got any underlying health issues" he asks me.

I answer "She's anemic. Iron deficient"

The man nods "That would make sense, her blood will be thinner than most peoples." He looks over at Daryl who is staring at Gwen with pure worry across his face. The man puts his hand on his shoulder "Your wife will be fine, she just needs rest"

"She's not his wife" I say automatically

"She's my girlfriend" Daryl announces, surprising me. What?

I leave the room. I knew they were close but not that close. I begin to worry, what will Shane do? I can already tell he's beginning to get clingier to Gwen and hating Daryl more…and Rick…surely he doesn't think Rick loves Gwen. Although, it's not hard to love Gwen. Andy is so much like her. I'm the opposite. My cold attitude can be pretty repellent, people have to get to know me to understand that I'm not actually the bitch I appear to be. Not that I have ever had problems making friends, I'm actually better than Gwen but that's only because I'm more outgoing, well I was.

Later on that night Shane comes back and limps towards the house. Just in time too! The man, Hershel, was about the start operating on Carl without any medication or a respirator. I stand at the door at the house and watch as Shane tells Hershel, Rick and Lori that the man he went with, Otis, is dead. Walkers got him.

"Don't tell Patricia, I need her!" Hershel states running back to the house Rick and Lori right behind him.

Shane starts up the house and looks at me with a glare before he walks in "Where's Gwen?" He snaps.

I give him the dirtiest look I can muster, this guy has ignored me from the start and now, because I accidentally hurt my baby sister, he looks like he wants to kill me and after the way he's been lately, ever since Gwen got closer to Daryl and shockingly since Rick got back, I feel he would.

"She passed out and she's in a bedroom resting. Her head wouldn't stop bleeding and she lost a lot of blood-" I say quietly but he pushes me out of the way and storms down the hall to where Gwen is resting before I could finish.

"Wait, Shane!" I call after him as he bangs open the door.

He looks at a passed out, now clean, but still pale, Gwen lying on her back looking like fucking Snow White, which coincidentally was also her childhood nickname. Her black hair fanning over the pillow like a dark halo, her lips surprisingly red, and her white skin emitting a glow which I know is sweat, her only imperfection appears to be the stitches in her temple and the bruise forming around it. To anyone who saw her, especially Shane apparently, she looked fucking gorgeous, all ready and waiting for her prince to kiss her and wake her up. However, unfortunately for Shane, Gwen's 'prince' is already sitting bedside.

Daryl stands up at the intrusion and glares at Shane "What?" he snaps.

Shane glares back "I'm checking on her" He spits at Daryl

"She's fine, I'm here!" Daryl growls.

I step back and bump into the girl who brought Lori here. I look at her surprised "I'm sorry" I say.

She smiles at me even though her eyes are red from tears "It's fine" She turns to Shane "The bathroom's upstairs. I brought you some clothes." She says handing over some clothes.

"Thank you" Shane says gratefully, that fake niceness coming through. I frown and look over at Gwen, catching Daryl's eyes as I do. He nods at me. I nod back.

"They won't fit well. They were Otis's." The girl states.

Shane looks at her guiltily. This makes me look at him suspiciously. What's his damn deal! I follow the girl and comfort her. Her name is Maggie. 


	6. Hierarchy

**Gwen's P.O.V**

My head hurts. Why does my head hurt? Oh yeah, I was stabbed. I move my hand. Am I on a real bed? How? Oh the farm. They must have brought me here.

"Gwen?" A deep, rough, southern voice says.

"I feel like I've been ran over by a car and then some" I mutter opening my eyes and squinting at the light.

"What did I miss? Is Carl okay? Sophia?" I ask Daryl.

He looks at me relieved and takes my hand in his. "We haven' found Sophia yet, Carl's gonna to be fine. A guy went with Shane to get supplies to operate on Carl. He came back but the guy didn'. Walkers"

"I'm glad Carl's okay. Poor guy though" I say as I sit up

"He's also the one who shot Carl. It was an accident though" Daryl says. "How do you feel?"

"Good, groggy but good" I say flinging the covers back and place my feet on the floor.

Daryl's arm wraps around my waist "Where are you going?" He asks harshly.

"I'm getting out of bed. I've rested enough and we have to find Sophia." I state, struggling against his grip.

"Like hell you are. Stay!" He snaps as he lifts me up and drops me back on the bed.

I grab onto his collar and he falls with me landing on his forearms, hovering above me. We both look surprised and then he smirks and leans down and kisses me. This kiss is different to the one in the CDC. There, we were drunk and horny. This one is soft and gentle in ways I didn't even know Daryl was capable of. He moves his leg and it brushes against my knee and pain flushes through me. I gasp into Daryl's mouth and not in the good way. He must have realised because he slides off of me.

"Did I hurt you?" He asks concerned.

I look down to see my jeans on both sides have been cut past my knees making them shorts and I have a bandage on both knees, a simple pad on one and a full blown wrap around on the other.

"What happened to my knees?" I ask confused.

"When you fell, you banged up your knees pretty bad" he says biting at his thumb. A habit I've noticed he does when he's worried.

I laugh "I'm pretty useless huh?"

He pulls his thumb away from his mouth and smirks. "Nah, you ain't useless. You need to learn to not push yoursel' so much."

I scrunch up my face "I don't like complaining but I need fresh air, so I'm going outside"

I stand up and he wraps his arm around my waist. I place my hand on his chest and push him back gently "I really am fine" I say sincerely looking right at him.

He nods and steps back but stay close as I walk out of the door. I stop as I walk past a room where Lori is. I step in and see a pale Carl on the bed and my heart clenches. He looks so small.

Lori hears me and looks up, new tears springing to her eyes as she jumps and rushes over to me and swings her arms around my neck "Gwen! Thank God you're okay!"

I wrap my arms around her waist briefly before pulling back and looking at Carl "How is he?"

"He's going to pull through, thanks to Hershel and his people" Lori states.

She looks at my forehead and she brushes her thumb around the bruised and stitched area "It's a shame that this has marred your pretty skin."

I shrug "Hopefully the scar will be small"

She smiles "You're sure you're okay?"

I nod with a smile, "I should go thank this Hershel and his people myself."

She nods and sits back down next to Carl. I leave the room and notice an older man sitting in a dining room reading a bible. I gesture to Daryl to give me another moment.

I walk in the room and the man looks up as I do "Are you Hershel?" I ask

He nods. I smile and throw my arms around the man "Thank you! For looking after me and Carl!"

He pats me on the back and I pull away to see he has a small smile. "No problem. Your boyfriend provided me with his blood to save your life."

Boyfriend? I look over my shoulder but Daryl's gone. The man stands up and pats my shoulder "Rick wants to look for that little girl, he's outside."

I nod and follow him outside and towards a car where Rick, Daryl, Andy, Shane, Andrea and Nessa are standing. Nessa sees me and grins "Oh thank God, you're okay!" she exclaims hugging me.

"Of course, it takes more than a poke in the face to get rid of me. You'll have to try harder next time" I say with a grin.

She glares at me and I smirk lifting my hands up defensively "Still too soon? You're worse than mum with the Emma thing"

"That's still not funny" Nessa states her eyes flicking to Andy who is smirking.

I follow her gaze "You don't mind do you boy? You know your mothers a nutter"

He laughs and nods. "I'll tell you all that story sometime" he says

Hershel shakes his head at us with a small smile. I grin at Rick who looks at me in relief. My eyes travel across to Andrea who is also smiling then to Shane who is not smiling but staring at me in a way that makes me very uncomfortable.

"How long has this girl been lost?" Hershel asks, drawing my eyes to him thankfully.

"This'll be day three" As Rick replies the girl who found us in the woods jogs over with something in her hand then spreads it over the hood of the car.

"County survey map. Shows terrain and elevations." She states.

"This is perfect. We can finally get this thing organized. We'll grid the whole area, start searching in teams." Rick states.

I nod.

"Not you" Hershel tells Rick "Not today, you gave three units of blood. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out." Then he turns to Shane "And your ankle... Push it now, you'll be laid up a month, no good to anybody."

"Just us then" Daryl states nodding to Andy. "We're gonna head back to the creek, work our way from there." 

"And me" I state

Everybody shakes their head and Hershel says "Especially not you. You were stabbed in the head"

"I'm fine. Honestly! I've gone to work with a lot worse" I state, genuinely feeling okay, just a dull pain in my knees and head.

"That may be, but today you need to rest" Hershel says.

I feel slightly agitated and I open my mouth to protest but Nessa yells at me surprising me and everyone around us "Hierarchy!"

I freeze and look at my sister "What did you just say?"

Nessa smirks and crosses her arm over her chest "Hierarchy"

I place a hand on my hip "You're going to waste that on this?"

"What are you talking about?" Rick asks looking confused

Nessa smirks "There is a rule in our family that we can overrule a decision our younger family members say. We get three a year to use. I'm oldest now so I'm at the top so Guinevere Carr McDade, you have been overruled." She steps closer to me "You may think your invincible, baby girl, but you're not. Slow it down!"

I open my mouth to protest, to say that these rules no longer apply… but I kind of want them to apply. I open and close my mouth a few times then cross my arms over my chest with a huff "Fine!"

She takes a deep breath "Good! Now go sit down!"

"Don't push your luck" I threaten lightly.

She coughs "Sorry"

"I can still be useful. I'll drive up to the interstate, see if Sophia wandered back." Shane says

Rick nods "All right, tomorrow then. We'll start doing this right."

"That means we can't have our people out there with just knives. They need the gun training we've been promising them." Shane states

Andrea looks around excitedly.

"I'd prefer you not carrying guns on my property. We've managed so far without turning this into an armed camp." Hershel says

"All due respect, you get a crowd of those things wandering in here..." Shane starts but Rick cuts him off

"Look, we're guests here" He says to Shane before turning to Hershel "This is your property and we will respect that" with that he places his gun on the car.

I follow his example and so does Shane, but grudgingly.

"First things first: Set camp, find Sophia." Rick states

"I hate to be the one to ask, but somebody's got to. What happens if we find her and she's bit?" Shane asks "I think we should all be clear on how we handle that"

There is a moment of silent before Rick says "You do what has to be done."

"And her mother? What do you tell her?" The girl, I really need to learn the name of, asks.

"The truth." Andrea states and I nod in agreement.

"I'll gather and secure all the weapons. Make sure no one's carrying till we're at a practice range off site. I do request one rifleman on lookout. Dale's got experience." Shane states.

"Our people would feel safer, less inclined to carry a gun" I plead looking at Hershel.

He nods at me and I smile at him. I pat Rick on the shoulder and head off and follow Daryl. I fall into step with him and he slides his hand into mine but doesn't look at me. 

There is a small silence then Daryl asks "Your middle name is Car?"

I blush "Carr with two r's…it's my dads middle name…and his mum's mums maiden name" my blush grows, I hate my middle name it's so stupid "It's a family name okay"

He chuckles "Sorry, didn' realise you were so sensitive"

"Just about that" I say with a grin. "Could you do me a favour?"

"Depends" he mutters.

I stop and look at him before my eyes flick to my nephew "He'd kick my ass if I asked this, but could you please look out for Andy, he's my nephew"

He looks at me as he bites the inside of his cheek but nods silently. I lean up and peck him on the lips quickly. "Thank you, sweetie"

Andy appears at my side and hug him "You watch yourself out there, you understand?"

They both nod and walk off together. I turn and walk back to camp.


	7. Bait

I just walk up to Lori when Dale and T-Dog turn up and say "There is a walker in the well"

Dale and T-Dog lead Andrea, Lori, Shane, Glenn, the farmer's daughter, myself and Nessa to the well. On the way I hold my hand out to the girl "Hi, I'm Gwen"

"I'm Maggie" The girl states with a grin.

"Thank you by the way, if it was not for you, your dad and the rest of your people, I'd probably be dead" I say with great appreciation.

"No problem" she replies with a big grin

We reach the well and T-Dog removes the wooden cover off the well and I look down. "Oh lovely" I state scrunching my nose in disgust at the obese and slimy looking walker.

"Looks like we've got a swimmer" Dale states moving a flashlight over the well.

"How long do you think it's been down there?" Glenn asks

"Long enough to grow gills" Andrea states

"A couple of weeks by the look of decomposition but that's with corpses that don't walk" I tell them

"We can't leave it in there. God knows what it's doing to the water." Lori says.

I nod in agreement.

"We got to get it out" Shane comments.

"Easy. Put a bullet in its head" T-Dog states.

"I'll get a rope" Shane says.

"Woah, Woah, guys, no" Maggie protests.

"Why not? It's a good plan" Glenn says.

"It's a stupid plan" Andrea argues "If that thing hasn't contaminated the water yet, blowing its brains out will finish the job."

"She's right" I admit.

"Yeah we can't risk that" Shane states

"So it has to come out alive" T-Dog says.

Shane looks amused "So to speak"

"How do we do that?" Glenn asks.

"Bait?" I suggest "Some sort of meat?"

"I'll go get somethin'" Maggie says before running off.

A couple a moments later she comes back with canned ham. Shane ties a rope on it and lowers it into the well. The walker just kind of looks at it then back at us.

"He's not going for it" Shane states.

"Maybe 'cause a canned ham don't kick and scream when you try to eat it." T-Dog comments.

"He's right. There's a reason the dead didn't come back to life and start raiding our cupboards." Lori says sarcastically.

"We need live bait" Andrea says.

I look up at her as if she's crazy but she's looking at Glenn and so does everyone else.

"You guys are not serious! We can't send Glenn down there! What if he falls? He's fucked!" I snap at them.

Shane grabs my shoulders and squeezes "He won't fall, I promise you that"

I open my mouth to protest but Glenn grips my wrist gently "It's okay Gwen"

I shake my head exasperated and step back as Shane ties a rope tightly and securely around Glenn's waist. "Have I mentioned that I really like your new haircut? You have a nice shaped head." Glenn says to Shane nervously.

"Don't worry about it, bud. We're gonna get you out of here in one piece." Shane assures him"

"Living piece. That living part is important." Glenn states.

"Nice and slow please" Glenn pleads as they wrap the rope around a red thing for leverage.

"We got you" Andrea says.

"Oh you people are crazy!" Maggie states.

"She's right, guys this ain't right!" I say

"Give us an eye there Maggie" Dale asks

She does it grudgingly and I go over and help with the rope. "Not you Gwen, you're still healing" Shane says.

"Oh shut up" I say frustrated and grab onto the rope as Glenn is lowered into the well.

Suddenly the red pump gives way and the rope slips considerably. Glenn drops too far into the well. The rope slips out of my hands and I dive for it and miss but T-Dog catches it and we all pull together and pull at T-dog to try and get Glenn back up the well as Glenn screams and shouts for help. My knee's are screaming in pain as I have one knee on the ground and someone is leaning on the other. I'm finally able to stand up and I pull at the rope with all my might, everybody does. Eventually Glenn reaches the top of the well and staggers out.

I drop to my knees and again ignore the pain "are you okay?" Lori and I both ask.

He just sits up and looks at us panting. I look over at Maggie and we share a look before Dale says "Back to the drawing board"

"Says you" Glenn pants out handing Dale the rope.

Dale's arm is tugged and I look down the well curiously to see the rope wrapped around the walker "Fuck, he did it" I mutter impressed.

"Lets get this fucker out of the well" Shane says and we all line up and pull at the rope.

"Come on ya'll! Together, pull!" Shane calls and we all grunt and groan as we pull the walker out of the well.

We get it to the top and it gets stuck but we keep tugging anyway. Eventually, the walker's mid section gives way and the bottom half falls back into the well, blood flying everywhere. I throw the rope down angrily.

"We should seal off this well" Dale says.

"Yeah, might be a good idea" Shane replies.

"So what should we do about…" Andrea starts but her questions is answered as T-Dog starts bashing the walker's skull in.

He stops and throws the metal bar down "Good thing we didn't do anything stupid like shoot it" and walks away.

I shake my head and head back to camp and see Nessa or Andy had set up our tent. I slide in and change my clothes. I don't know what to do with myself after that but to wait for Andy and Daryl.


	8. Childhood

**Andy's P.O.V**

Daryl and I walk through the woods slowly and carefully. Daryl is watching the ground for tracks and I walk with my head up covering his back. A question burns on my mind to ask him about my aunt. I know he will probably blow it off, I would but there's no harm in it.

"Daryl?" I say quietly

He glances at me "What?" he asks gruffly.

I just blurt out with it "What's going on between you and my aunt Gwen?"

He stops moving and looks at me. I just look back at him with steady eyes. Trying to show I didn't really care… even though I do, she is my aunt, my best friend as a kid and we're still really close.

"What's it to you?" Daryl snaps defensively and keeps walking.

I feel pissed "Gwen's my aunt, she's blood. Her and Nessa are all I have left so it has everything to do with me"

Daryl smirks "Your aunt's important to ya huh?"

I calm myself down and nod once. "Gwen pretty much raised me"

Daryl waves his hand, wanting me to elaborate "My mum's her other sister, she had me when she was 18, and Aunt Gwen was only seven at the time, Nessa was 13. We lived with my grandparents and both aunts and my dad. My mum and dad worked constantly to try and get us out of my grandparents, it took them a few years and I was 4 when we left to live alone, Gwen was entering High school and I was going to primary school. Nessa left school and ran off with a boyfriend. Gwen and my schools were next door to each other so Gwen would pick me up and take me home and watch me until my parents came home. The older she got the more she looked after me. By the time she was 16 she was looking after me for days at a time while my parents travelled for business and Nessa was working abroad. My mum always felt awful but Gwen didn't mind. She became a second mother to me. She helped me with homework, yelled at me when I got bad grades and when I teased my little sister, so yeah she's important to me." I explain.

Daryl nods a glint flashes in his eyes that I don't recognise or understand. "Gwen and I are together" He mutters.

"As in she's your girlfriend" I ask

"You got a problem with that?" He asks gruffly.

"Surprised is all" I reply with a shrug

"Why?" he snaps.

"Nothing against you, it's just…Gwen hasn't dated anyone in years. She got put off men when she was 21 because…" I stop "It's not my place to tell you that"

Daryl eyes me curiously then shrugs and keeps walking. We walk in silence for a while my questioned answered but my worry for Gwen doubled. She chooses now to be interested in men!

"What was Gwen like as a kid?" Daryl mutters as if embarrassed.

I shrug "Shy, awkward, quiet. She looked completely different."

Daryl smirks "what do ya mean?"

I laugh quietly "She was an ugly kid"

Daryl scoffs "Yeah right."

"Seriously! She was an ugly kid! She was covered in acne, caterpillars for eyebrows, really overweight and she had this awful, long ratty hair." I laugh "Then she turned 16 and bam! Almost over night she got pretty. To be fair she had lost a lot of weight by the time she was 16 but when she was getting ready for prom she lost more weight, she cut her hair to her shoulders, her acne had cleared up, she did something with her eyebrows and just like that she was pretty"

"Just like that huh?" Daryl mutters.

"Just like that, she got prettier and prettier as time went on and her hair grew out again but as you can see its looks a lot better than that birds nest she had before." I reply

Daryl shrugs, "I can't picture it"

I shrug "I have proof"

Daryl's eyes snap back to me "Ya do?"

I nod "I've had the same picture of me and Gwen in my wallet for years. I'll show it to you when we get back to camp"

Daryl smirks and we continue looking for Sophia.


	9. Forget

**Gwen's P.O.V**

I sit on a camping chair for an hour reading a really dull book when I notice two figures strolling down the field towards us. I see light reflect off bright blonde hair and grin. They're back, finally!

"Gwen, they're back" Dale calls down to me from the top of the RV.

"Yeah I can tell by that messy blonde hair" I call back with a grin.

He chuckles.

As they enter camp I throw my arms around Andy "I'm glad you're okay"

I grab Daryl's hand "Thank you"

He nods. "Did you find anything?" I ask as we walk towards the RV

"We may have a lead" Daryl states "We found an abandoned house and there was a cupboard that had blankets and stuff in and it could only fit someone really small. There was an empty food can that was still quite fresh"

I grin "That sounds like a good solid lead boys! Why don't you come get food?"

Andy nods but Daryl looks at the RV "I'm just gonna tell Carol"

I nod with a smile and I take Andy to the fire where he drops down next to Nessa and drops his head on her shoulder with a deep breath. Nessa pats his cheek a little as I hand him a plate of food and sit across from them in my original seat.

A moment later Daryl steps out of the RV and heads towards us the sits down on the floor next to my chair and leans his back and head against my legs. Nessa gives him some food and watches us curiously. I stroke his hair for a while.

Andy then pulls out his wallet and I smirk "You leaving me a tip due to my excellent service?"

He simply smiles "I said to Daryl I'd show him something"

Daryl jumps up and moves over to Andy. I raise an eyebrow "What?"

He simply smirks and pulls a small piece of photo paper out his wallet. As he does so Nessa howls with laughter. My face drains of colour, the picture!

"You still have that!" I shout flinging myself out of my seat but Andy passes the monstrosity to Daryl before I can reach. I panic and throw myself onto the hunter before he can look at it properly and snatch it out of his hand.

"Give it back!" He growls.

"Oh hell no! This thing is getting burned!" I state heading for the fire.

Daryl's arms wrap around my waist and he lifts me off the ground and carries me as far away from the fire as he could before I manage to wiggle out of his grip. That distance was pretty bloody far, we're passed the RV and almost at his tent, which he set up a little further from the rest of us. I set off at run towards the fire again but he literally jumps on me making me fall on my face and have the breath knocked out of me momentarily. He grabs at my wrists and tries to pry the picture of my hand. I turn under him so I can get better leverage on the picture and yank it back.

"Let go!" I snap hoping he'll get annoyed and pull so hard he rips it

He's not stupid though and lets go of me. I try and slither out from underneath him but he grabs my hips and drags me back.

"You can't see me looking like this!" I yell fighting against him.

"It's just a photo, let me see" He snaps.

"If it was just a photo you would leave it!" I snap back.

"No, give me it!" He snatches it out of my grip and stands up looking at it.

My eyes widen, knowing it's too late anyway, I pummel a static Daryl to the floor and straddle him and snatch the photo back. I look at myself and feel really upset. I know that sounds melodramatic but this picture is of a time I'd rather forget. A very difficult and emotional time in my life, and I'm not just talking about teen years which are brutal enough. I really didn't want him too see this.

I stand up and off of Daryl and glare down at him "Satisfied!" I snap angrily and storm off.

A hand grabs my wrist and stops me. I slap it away and turn on him "Why did you look!"

"I wanted to know what you used to look like" He says with a shrug.

"What does it matter what I used to look like? I snap "It was a horrible time for me and I want to burn it from my memory! I hate who I was back then! I don't need this…", holding the picture in front of his face, "reminding me of it."

I rip the photo down the middle separating me and Andy. I pocket Andy's side, cause he's cute in it and rip the side with me in it into little pieces and throwing it at Daryl.

I turn to storm away again but he simply turns me back around and flings me over his shoulder and enters his tent before zipping it closed violently. He places me on the floor and stands in front of the only entrance or exit to the tent.

I cross my arms in front of my chest and shuffle around so my back is to him. I expected him to huff and storm off himself but instead he kneels down behind me and gently caresses my back before taking all my hair into one hand and gently placing it over one shoulder and completely exposing one side of my neck. My stomach does a few back flips as his calloused fingers slightly graze my neck and trace my tattoo leaving a tingling trail. He places his lips on the dip where my neck meets my shoulder and kisses it. This simple action nearly made my stomach explode.

Then he speaks softly "I just want to know everything about ya, past and present. Andy told me a bit about your past and what you were like. I couldn' resist when he said he had a photo of the old you. I won' do it again if it makes ya unhappy."

I spin around teary eyed and throw myself onto him, my lips attaching onto his. He kisses back immediately, drawing me further into him, our bodies completely meshed against each other. I slip my hands down his neck and move them down to his hips. I move my hands under his shirt and across his hard abdomen, feeling a light sprinkle of hair that disappears under his jeans that I would like nothing better than to follow. He forces my mouth open and deepens the kiss, occasionally pulling back to bite my bottom lip. I pull my hands out from his shirt and work on undoing the buttons on it. I manage to get it unbuttoned and off his back in seconds. I pull away from the kiss and start trailing little butterfly kisses down his jaw to his neck, stopping to nip at his flesh with my teeth while exploring his chest with my hands. I move my lips down to his chest and run my tongue over his nipple before moving further down his body. He grips my arms and his breathing becomes shallow and I feel something solid press into my chest as I travel further down.

Tired of being dominated he grabs my shoulders and presses me into the ground. I gasp in surprise as my back meets the cold groundsheet. He grips the bottom of my vest tops and forces it up and over my head and throws it in a direction I don't care about. He moves down to my stomach and runs his tongue from the top of my naval to the bottom of my bra at an agonizingly slow pace. He reaches behind my back and unclips the bra before pulling it off my arms and discarding the offending material. He stares at my breast for a couple of seconds which starts to make me feel self-conscious. I cover them with my arms. He grabs my arms and shoves them above my head roughly and growl "Don't"

He leans away from me for just a moment then I feel something being tied around my wrists tightly. I look at him surprised but my nether region wakes up properly for the first time in years. That very thought causes me to moan. Daryl smirks before attacking my breasts with his mouth and his hands. He finishes his attack on my breasts, leaving a few hickeys in his wake, he works on taking out the button of my jeans and the zipper. I kick off my boots as he pulls my jeans off my hips. I raise my hips up so he can slide them past my ass before completely removing them. He bends down and kisses the inside of my thigh before licking a path to my underwear. My body begins to shake in anticipation when I feel his warm breath through my underwear. He looks up at me for permission and I just nod at him and he brushes a finger over my underwear. This action causes my hips to buck into his hand. I am not going to last very long tonight at all!

He grabs my underwear and pulls it off leaving me completely exposed to him. His eyes rake my entire body a few times, which again makes me feel even more self conscious "Stop staring!" I mutter.

He simply chuckles before placing a gentle kiss on my lips "I can' help it, you're beautiful"

I blush heavily and wiggle my hips to defuse the tension between my legs a little. He notices and reaches his hand down and rubs his finger over my clit. I bite my lip to stop the moan escaping my mouth. He smirks before plunging two fingers into me. He presses his mouth onto mine as I let out a scream. He moves his fingers in and out of me, occasionally using his thumb to rub my clit. I feel the familiar bubble in my stomach, which only I have ever been able to achieve, and he withdraws his fingers. I groan at him.

"That's mean" I mutter.

He laughs and says "Payback for what you did at the CDC"

I pout. I knew that was gonna come back to bite me. Daryl sits up and unbuckles his belt and takes off his jeans. As he does I can see his erection standing hard and at attention, straining against his boxers. I also notice he is flipping huge. I can't help but wonder if he'll even fit. He quickly removes his boxers before positioning himself. He looks at me first for permission and I kiss him. He plunges straight into me, stretching my walls in ways I didn't know they were capable of. He groans at the same time as I let out a gasp. He does not hold back, at all. I grab onto his shoulder as he pounds into me quickly but rhythmically. I feel that bubble building in my stomach again I bring my hands down in front of me and bite one of my hands to stop my moans becoming too loud. His tempo increases and so does his grunts. He losses all rhythm and moves erratically. I see stars as my whole body explodes with pleasure, I bite down on my hand harder to drown out the scream that erupts from my mouth. Not seconds later does Daryl jerk his hips forward once more in one powerful thrust before falling on top of me.

We both lie there as I come down from the best high I've ever had. Daryl sits up slowly and withdraws from me before untying my hands. He was using his shirt. I reach one of my hands up and stroke his cheek with a smile. He takes the hand that's on his cheek and pulls it to his mouth and kisses my palm. He stands and lifts me with him and lays me down on his cot bed then lies down next to me and pulls his blankets around us. I pass out next to him.

The next day I wake up to light beginning to pierce through the tent. I sit up and the blankets fall from my chest and onto my lap.

"I didn' know you had tattoos" Daryl's voice mumbles from next to me

I place my hand over the bird tattoo on my hip "Yeah I got it done shortly after my youngest niece was born"

He sits up and kisses my neck "I like a girl with tats."

I giggle and slap his chest "I only got three" I have an old fashioned compass on the underside of my wrist with writing around it saying 'not all who wander are lost' and a small dragon tattoo on the back of my neck that people only see if my hair is up.

"There's other parts I like about ya too" He says with a grin.

I laugh before reaching blindly for my clothes. I find my bra first then my underwear, the rest of my clothes are dotted around the tent. Once I've played the clothes scavenger hunt, and Daryl has done the same. I drop down next to him again and place a kiss on his mouth.

"Come on, we got work to do"


	10. Search Grids and Jealousy

I walk towards camp with Daryl close behind me. I grin back at him occasionally and that stupid fucking grin is still on my face when I enter the main camp and Nessa's already making breakfast.

She grins at me slyly as I walk towards her. She pointedly looks over my shoulder at Daryl. I sit in my camping chair and Daryl sits in between my legs again. Nessa hands both Daryl and I a plate still grinning.

"Have a good night, Gwen?" She asks.

I smile back unfazed "I had a fantastic night, yourself?" I reply politely.

She giggles a little and sits back in her chair. "Not nearly as good as yours"

"Sucks to be you"

After a while I realize the pain between my legs. Shit… I haven't felt that since after my first time. Since I can't close my legs, I wiggle uncomfortably in my chair. Nessa notices, Daryl doesn't. She raises an eyebrow out me as everyone else starts to leak out of their tents. Everybody has gotten used to the idea of Daryl and I, apart from one, Shane. He doesn't even thank Nessa as she passes him a plate but keeps his eyes trained on Daryl and me with a glare. I contain my wiggling then Daryl stands up and grabs my hand and gives it a small squeeze before walking back to his tent, probably to get his crossbow. Nessa stands up and jerks her head, indicating for me to follow her.

I follow her and she stops not too far from the fire and whispers "What's the matter with you, well, your downstairs area"

My eyes widen "Nothing!"

She scoffs then dramatically gasps "Did he give you something?"

"What! No!" This causes a few people to look at me. I flash them a nervous smile and I drag Nessa away a few more feet.

I look back over and everyone has gone back to what their doing, except Shane who's still staring. I turn back to Nessa and whisper "He's just, _extremely_ well endowed"

She steps back says "ohhhhh, I see, you just woke it up and it's hungry"

I burst out laughing but she continues calmly "I'm actually surprised it took you so long! Your vagina's been trying to climb up his leg since you met him."

I laugh harder and hold onto her to stop myself falling over. I calm down and turn away from her and head to our tent, she follows and I say "Not going to lie, your right, I've had to pick it up and snap it back on a few times"

She snorts.

"Snap what back on?" Shane asks looking really confused as I open my tent.

I smirk "Nothing, Shane."

I climb into the tent and Nessa follows me. I kick Andy's foot "Get up you lazy shit"

He propels off his mat "I'm awake" He slurs.

"Uh huh, sure you are" I state and change my shirt and grab my knife and stick it into my belt.

Andy gets up and follows Nessa and I out of the tent. Rick, Shane and Daryl walk by and Rick says "Morning, guys. Let's get going. We've got a lot of ground to cover."

I follow him to the Cherokee, only Andy follows me because Nessa goes to help Lori and Carol. 

Rick is leaning over a map and says "All right, everyone's getting new search grids today. If she made it as far as the farmhouse Daryl and Andy found, she might have gone further east than we've been so far."

"I'd like to help. I know the area pretty well and stuff." The boy who lives on the farm, who looks just a little younger than Andy, says.

"Hershel's okay with this?" Rick asks.

The kid nods "Yeah yeah. He said I should ask you."

I look at him suspiciously, I think he's lying. Rick on the other hand nods and says "All right then. Thanks."

The kid grins and joins us around the car.

"Nothing about what Daryl found screams Sophia to me. Anyone could have been holed up in that farmhouse." Shane says from inside of the car.

I glare at him and Andrea says "Anybody includes her, right?" Andrea says.

"Whoever slept in that cupboard was no bigger than yay-high." Daryl says holding his hand to his hip.

"It's a good lead" Andrea says.

"Maybe we'll pick up her trail again." Rick says.

"No maybe about it. I'm gonna borrow a horse, head up to this ridge right here, take a bird's-eye view of the whole grid. If she's up there, I'll spot her." Daryl says. He's wearing an actual shirt with sleeves.

I pull at one of them "These aren't going to last, are they?" I ask with a smirk.

He just looks at me confused and I giggle.

"Good idea, Maybe you'll see your chupacabra up there too" T-dog teases.

"Chupacabra?" Rick asks confused.

"You never heard this? Our first night in camp, Daryl tells us that this whole thing reminds him of a time when he went squirrel hunting and he saw a chupacabra." Dale tells Rick.

I grin, oh yeah, forgot about that!

The kid snorts with laughter and Daryl snaps "What are you braying at, jackass?"

"You believe in a blood-sucking dog?" Rick asks sceptically.

"Do you believe in dead people walking around?" Daryl asks, making a good point.

"Gwen got a guy on her table who was murdered by a chubacabra" Andy states.

Rick looks at me surprised. I sigh "It wasn't an actual chubacabra attack. This guy up in Virginia was losing money on his hotel which relied on the myth of the Chupacabra to keep it running. When a guy was killed in a hunting accident the hotel owner rigged the body to look like a chupacabra attack, drained the guy's blood and removed his heart and everything. However, considering chupacabra literally translates to goat sucker and the goat that was tied up near by wasn't touched. We threw that idea out of the window. Cole and I genuinely believed it for a while though"

"Who's Cole?" Daryl asks suspiciously. Shane looks up too.

My eyes flick between the two of them "He was the resident bug boy, the etymologist, a work colleague"

"Conspiracy theorist, kind of creepy, in love with Gwen!" Nessa calls walking past.

"He was not!" I yell after her.

She just laughs. I shake my head and the kid reaches for the riffle on the car. Rick stops him "Hey hey. Ever fired one before?"

"Well, if I'm going out, I want one." The kid says.

"Yeah, and people in hell want slurpees." Daryl snaps and wanders off.

"Why don't you come train tomorrow? If you're serious, I'm a certified instructor." Shane tells the kid.

"For now he can come with us" Andrea offers.

"He's yours to babysit then" Shane states.

"All right, Andrea, T-Dog, I want you guys to take this grid, indicate your grid with these blue cloths" Rick instructs. "Gwen, Andy you two take this grid and mark it with black cloths"

"Can I get my gun?" I ask Shane.

He nods and pulls it out of the sheriff's bag with its holster and hands it to me. I put the belt around my hips.

"Shane and I will take this grids and Daryl will continue over here" Rick continues "Everybody know what their doing?"

"Yes sir" I say before grabbing the black cloths and moving off towards the woods, Andy close behind me.

We walk for a long time looking for signs of Sophia and I haven't spoken to Andy once. "Are you ignoring me or something?" He asks.

"Yes" I tell him bluntly.

"Why?" he asks confused.

"That stupid picture! You shouldn't have shown it to Daryl" I snap.

He scoffs "Well considering you didn't come back last night, I didn't think it was such a bad idea"

I smirk "Remember I can still kick your ass boy"

"Uh huh, sure you can" he mutters.

"I know your weak spot and don't you forget it" I threaten and keep going.

I hear muffled footsteps and I pull my gun out. I hold a finger up to Andy as a gesture for him to be quiet as I move forward slowly. I press my back against a tree as the footsteps get closer then jump out, my gun in Rick's face, his in mine.

I pull it away quickly "Jesus!" I burst out and stagger back. He catches me around the waist "You okay?"

"Thought you were a walker" I say with a laugh

He chuckles "I thought you were one too"

Shane appears and stares at Rick's arm and glares. Andy appears behind me. Rick lets go and I step back "Sorry guys, we must have wandered onto your grid" I say.

"We'll head back this way." Andy says and we walk off. Rick and Shane do the same.

A couple of hours later we have nothing to show for our efforts. My mood is foul as we head back to camp. Rick, Shane, Andrea, T-Dog and the kid are all back before we are but Daryl isn't.

I walk to Rick and Lori

"Daryl's not back yet?" I ask Rick

He shakes his head. I bite my lip and look off into the woods. Rick places a hand on my shoulder "Hey, he'll be okay, he always is, right?"

I look at Lori and she smiles at me kindly.

I nod and pat Rick's hand and smile up at him "I know, doesn't stop me from worrying though, I can be such a girl sometimes" I joke.

He laughs and takes his hand away. I look back towards the woods, I really can't stop worrying.

"Mr Grimes, Miss McDade, my dad wants to talk to you" Maggie's sister, Beth I think someone said, tells us

I look between Lori and Rick before following Rick to a shed behind the house. "One of my horses is missing. Did one of your people take it" Hershel tells us. I contain a sigh. Oh Daryl!

"I was under the impression you knew about that?" Rick states.

"I did not" Hershel says.

"I'll have a word with Daryl" I state. Hershel nods at me.

"And Jimmy? You took him out today. Did he also give you the impression of my consent?" Hershel asks. So that's the kid's name.

"No, he said it outright. I took the boy at his word." Rick states. I frown, I knew the little shit was lying!

"He's not my kin but I am responsible for him. These things need to be cleared with me." Hershel states

"Sounds like we need to work on our communication. What do you suggest?" Rick asks.

"Keep it simple. I'll control my people, you control yours." Hershel states.

"We'll do that Hershel, I'm sorry about any inconvenience" I say with a smile before walking off.


	11. Guinevere

**Daryl's P.O.V**

I wake up to the sound of my brother's voice "Why don't you pull that arrow out, dummy? You could bind your wound better."

I open my eyes and I can see him but I know he can't be there "Merle" I mutter.

"What's going on here? You taking a siesta or something?" He asks, talking about my fucked up look

"Shitty day, bro" I reply

"Like me to get you a pillow? Maybe rub your feet?" Merle asks sarcastically.

"Screw you" I mutter back

"Huh-uh. You're the one screwed from the looks of it. All them years I spent trying to make a man of you, this is what I get? Look at you. Lying in the dirt like a used rubber. You're gonna die out here, brother. And for what?" He asks.

"A girl. They lost a little girl." I tell him.

"So you gotta a thing for little girls now?" He asks with a smirk

"Shut up!" I growl

"Oh that's right your getting cosy with the Scottish girl ain't ya? What's her name again, Genevieve? Gwendolyn?"

My chest tightens "Guinevere" I mutter.

"That's right, Guinevere, she's way out of your league little brother. Is that why you ain't out looking for old Merle anymore? You're getting some from some girl?"

His comment pisses me off "Tried like hell to find you bro"

"Like hell you did. You split, man. Lit out first chance you got."

He's pissing me off more and more "You lit out, all you had to do was wait. We went back for you. Rick and I, we did right by you"

"This the same Rick that cuffed me to the rooftop in the first place? Forced me to cut off my own hand? This him we're talking about here? You his bitch now?" Merle asks.

"I ain't nobody's bitch" I snap.

"You're a joke is what you are, playing errand boy to a bunch of pansy-asses, niggers, democrats and foreigners. You're nothing but a freak to them. Redneck trash. That's all you are. They're laughing at you behind your back. You know that, don't you? I got a little news for you, son. One day they gonna scrape you off their heels like you was dogshit. Hey. They ain't your kin, your blood. Hell, you had any damn nuts in that sack of yours, you'd got back there and shoot your pal Rick in the face for me. Now you listen to me. Ain't nobody ever gonna care about you except me, little brother. Nobody ever will. Come on, get up on your feet before I have to kick your teeth in. Lets go" He kicks my foot over and over again.

I come too properly to realize it's not Merle at my foot, it's a walker trying to bite me through my boot. I scramble up and kick it away from me and try and reach my crossbow. The walker gets on top of me and I punch it over and over until I got it on its back and scramble to my feet and grab a thick branch as another walker comes at me and I beat in the skull of the first walker. Wrenching the bolt out of me then readying my crossbow with great difficulty because of the pain in my side but I manage to take down the second walker before it can touch me. I pass out again.

I wake up and look around quickly, checking for walkers before I pull myself up into a seating position and take my shirt off, fold it into a pad, press it to my wound and tie it in place. Damn, Gwen was right, the shirt didn't last long. I grab Sophia's doll and eat raw squirrel before cutting the ears off the walkers and putting them on a string before climbing back up the hill.

I'm almost there when I hear Merle say "Please, don't feed the birds. What's the matter, Darylina? That all you got in you? Throw away that purse and climb."

I'm trying and his voice isn't helping and I mutter "I liked it better when you was missing."

"Come on, don't be like that. I'm on your side." Merle states.

"Yeah? Since when?" I snap

"Hell, since the day you were born, baby brother. Somebody had to look after your worthless ass."

"You never took care of me. You talk a big game but you was never there. Hell, you ain't here now. Guess some things never change." I say bitterly

"Well, I'll tell you what- I'm as real as your chupacabra."

"I know what I saw!"

"And I'm sure them shrooms you ate had nothing to do with it, right?" he says sarcastically. "Come on boy, climb! You don't wanna die and leave that pretty girl of yours with that other cop do ya? I get the attraction, it seems every guy on that camp sees how hot she is. I know I would be trying for a piece of her ass, it's only a matter of time till Shane does. You've already had it haven't you little brother?"

"You'd best shut the hell up." I growl

"Or what? You're gonna come up here and shut my mouth for me? Well, come on and do it then, if you think you're man enough! Hey, kick off them damn high heels and climb, son. You know what? If I were you I'd take a pause for the cause, brother. 'Cause I just don't think you're gonna make it to the top. Come on. Come on, little brother. Grab your friend Rick's hand."

I pull myself up the last bit and stagger to my feet and he's gone "Yeah, you'd better run!" I shout.

I work my way back to camp. That's _my_ girl he was talking about and there's no way in hell _Shane_ is getting anywhere near her, ever again.


	12. Noble

**Gwen's P.O.V**

I'm lounging in my chair next to the RV getting more and more bored when Dale comes up behind me and calls up to Andrea "What's with the Annie Oakley routine?"

"I don't want to wash clothes anymore, Dale. I want to help keep the camp safe. Is that all right with you?" Andrea calls down. She really has not forgiven him in the slightest.

I sit up a little and notice Glenn come flying out of the RV looking really distracted, what is with him lately?

"Walker! Walker!" Andrea shouts.

"Just the one?" Rick asks

Andrea grabs the binoculars and looks through them then puts them down "I bet I can nail it from here"

"No, no Andrea put the gun down!" Rick calls to her.

"You best let us deal with this" Shane shouts up to her.

I grab my knife and start walking until Rick calls "Shane, hold up. Hershel wants to deal with walkers."

"What for, man? We got it covered" Shane says

I look up to Andrea before chasing after them "Do not shoot Andrea, I mean it!"

I have to run at full speed to keep up with the guys. I gasp and feel faint when I see its Daryl. He looks a mess. I move forward but Shane grabs me around the shoulders.

"That's the third time you've pointed that thing at my head. You gonna pull the trigger or what?" He snarls.

I push Shane off me and run forward with a grin when I hear a gun shot and Daryl falls to the ground. My eyes widen and I scream bloody murder and lunge forward. Rick is shouting as well. Tears run down my face as I drop on my knees next to Daryl and cry even harder, in relief, when I notice he is breathing. The bullet just grazed him thank God! However, he is a complete mess! His face is bloody, his side is covered in blood as well as being covered in dirt and sweat and his entire shirt didn't last very long let alone the sleeves and to top it all off he has ears tied on a string around his neck.

"I was kidding" He mutters as both Rick and Shane lift him off the ground.

The tears are still cascading down my face when he passes out and Andrea and Dale come running down the field "Oh my God. Oh my God, is he dead?" She cries.

"Unconscious, you just grazed him" Rick answers.

I feel a burst of anger explode from my stomach as I turn on Andrea "What part of 'do not shoot Andrea, I mean it' don't you get! I get you want to learn and you want to help but you nearly killed Daryl, you stupid little bitch!" I scream at her before following Rick and Shane.

"Look at him. What the hell happened? He's wearing ears." Glenn says.

Rick rips them off and shoves them in his pocket "Let's keep that to ourselves"

"Guys, isn't this Sophia's?" T-Dog asks holding up a doll.

We get Daryl back to the house where Hershel fixes him up. He wakes up as Hershel stitches his side, apparently he was impaled by his own damn bolt.

Rick returns with a map and lays it out of the bed and Daryl points out where he found the doll. Rick turns to me and says "Cuts the grid almost in half."

"Yeah, you're welcome." Daryl says as his face scrunches up in pain.

I don't even care, I care about him "How's he looking?" I ask Hershel.

"I had no idea we'd be going through the antibiotics so quickly." Hershel states before asking Daryl "Any idea what happened to my horse"

"Yeah, the one who almost killed me? If it's smart, it left the country." Daryl says.

"We call that one Nelly, as in nervous Nelly. I could have told you she'd throw you if you'd bothered to ask. It's a wonder you people have survived this long." Hershel states before looking up at my desperate face since my question went unanswered. "He'll live"

I smile and kiss Daryl's cheek as Shane and Rick leave the room "I'll be right back"

I leave the room in time to see Rick and Lori walk away. "Daryl risks his life today for a doll, Gwen" Shane says.

"He brought back the first piece of evidence for Sophia" I reply

"You're starting to sound like Rick" He states.

I shrug "So?"

"He can't make the tough calls and you know I'm right" he argues

"About what? Abandoning a little girl in the woods? You keep telling yourself you're making the tough calls. You're really just trying-"

He cuts me off by grabbing my face between his hands and strokes his thumbs over my cheeks "The only thing I care about in this world is you, Gwen. So I apologize if I appear to be insensitive to the needs of others, but you see I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe"

"Even abandoning a lost child? Really?" I ask and push his hands off my face

"Yeah" He states stepping closer to me

I glare at him "I am not your girlfriend or you're wife, I am not your problem in general and I am certainly not your excuse!"

With that I spin on my heels and storm back into Daryl's room. "You alright?" he asks as I close the door.

I smile and pick up the bowl of water Hershel left and move it over to the bedside table. I pull the cloth out of it and ring it out before placing the damp cloth on Daryl's chest and start removing the dirt and blood that is caking his skin.

"I'm fine"

He watches me silently for a while I hum a little tune I used to sing my youngest niece to get her to sleep as I clean all the dirt and dry blood from his chest, stomach, neck and face.

I move onto his back and he flinches away from me "don't" He snaps

I continue anyway, running the cloth over deep scars on his back and my heart breaks for him. I say nothing, he doesn't want to talk about it, I won't ask about it.

"What you humming?" he asks

"It's a Gaelic song" I say as I wipe the cloth across his tattoo.

"Sing it" he demands softly

"You won't understand it" I reply.

"Don't care" he says.

I nod and sing it. I haven't sung it in a while so some of the Gaelic isn't pronounced right, not that he would know if it was. There's a knock on the door that sends me into the air and makes Daryl wrenches up his blankets to cover his scars. I turn to see Lori standing at an open door looking teary eyed.

"Are you okay, Lori?" I ask her

She nods her head and says "Dinner's ready, you should come eat something"

I nod and she leaves. I stand and kiss Daryl's forehead, "I'll be back up"

He nods and I leave.

Dinner was awkward as hell, ace and delicious but awkward. I'm sitting at the long table and we all just exchange awkward looks occasionally or don't make eye contact at all.

"Does anybody know how to play guitar?" Glenn asks trying to bring up the mood

"Dale found a cool one. Somebody's got to know how to play."

"Otis did." Patricia, Otis's widow, states.

"Yes, and he was very good too" Hershel says.

Glenn turns around defeated and I say "Andy can play, his dad taught him"

Andy looks up from the small table and looks around at everyone before nodding. Glenn looks optimistic again "Maybe you could play something"

Andy looks like a deer in the headlight then Lori says "Can you play what Gwen was singing? It was beautiful"

"What?" Andy asks

Now I feel like the deer. "Noble fair maiden" I mutter,

"The one you sing Ava? Yeah" Andy says

"Who's Ava?" Carol asks.

"Our niece, she's 3" Nessa replies.

The awkwardness was back even though Nessa purposefully used a present tense.

"I'll play it if Gwen sings it" Andy states.

I nod quickly and people smile. "That's nice of you, some after dinner entertainment" Dale says.

After dinner, I move to the kitchen but Carol stops me "I'm just going to make Daryl a tray and I'll be right back down"

She shakes her head with a smile "Please let me do it, I have to thank him"

I smile and move into the living room where Andy's tuning the guitar and everyone is sitting on chairs or on the sofas or on the floor. Andy nods at me and I nod back and he starts playing the soft melody and I sing it. Nessa joins in during the second chorus. When I finish there was a small applause.

"Got anything in English" Shane asks.

I shrug but Andy starts playing a tune I recognise by the same songwriter but in English. "This love, it is a distant star  
Guiding us home wherever we are  
This love, it is a burning sun  
Shining light on the things that we've done

I try to speak to you everyday  
But each word we spoke, the wind blew away

Could these walls come crumbling down?  
I want to feel my feet on the ground  
And leave behind this prison we share  
Step into the open air

How did we let it come to this?  
What we just tasted we somehow still miss

How will it feel when this day is done  
And can we keep what we've only begun?

And now these walls come crumbling down  
And I can feel my feet on the ground  
Can we carry this love that we share  
Into the open air?  
Into the open air?  
Into the open air?

This love, it is a burning sun"

"That was really good" Beth says, "It sounds better with the accent"

"Thanks, Beth"

"You really know your way around that guitar, kid" Shane tells Andy.

Andy nods in thanks.

I leave to check on Daryl. I reach the room as I hear Daryl say "I didn't do anything Rick or Shane wouldn't have done."

"I know. You're every bit as good as them. Every bit." Carol tells him then leaves, jumping as she sees me in the hall.

I hug her, Daryl needed to hear that. She looks surprised when I pull away and I slide past her into the room and close the door behind me.

"She's right" I state crawling onto the bed and lie down facing his back.

He lies on his back and turns his head to look at me and just smiles slightly. I reach over and caress his cheek lightly with my hand before sitting up and grabbing his tray of food.

"Can you sit up?" I ask.

He nods and moves into a seating position. I place the tray on his knee "Eat this, Carol, Lori and Nessa did a really good job. I couldn't cook like this"

He eats while I sit on a chair and doze a bit, its been a long day. "Can ya cook?" He asks

I open my eyes with a start and sit up properly. I laugh at his question "No, I burn almost everything. I once set a pan on fire and Nessa told me never to go near a stove again"

He chuckles then winces in pain "Oh I'm sorry, do you need anything?" I ask guiltily.

"No, I'm fine" He says.

I look at him sceptically and walk over to the dresser and grab the painkillers off of it and head over to Daryl. "Take them. You're not going to get better if you don't take the medication"

"I don' need it?" He states

I frown "Take it or I'll force you to take it!"

He smirks and his eyes flick up and down my body. I bite back a smile and take the tray off his lap and place it on the bedside table. I open the pill bottle and empty two pills into my hand before climbing on top of Daryl carefully.

"Open your mouth" I demand.

"Nope" He says.

"Open!" I demand more aggressively

"No" He replies with that stupid smirk still plastered on his face.

I sigh and put the pills in my mouth and place my mouth onto Daryl's. He kisses me but doesn't open his mouth, mine fills with salvia and I need to swallow. I hit his shoulder but he still won't open, so I bite his lip and he opens his mouth a little bit, I take this opportunity to slide my tongue in and transfer the pills from mine to his.

I pull back and take a drink of his water and hand him the bottle "Swallow and I'll give you a treat"

He takes the bottle and takes a drink. "What's the treat?" He asks

"Me not re-opening your stitches." I state climbing off him.

He grabs my wrist and pulls me back onto the bed and my head makes contact with his legs. I squeal in surprise as I go down and glare at him "What-"

He cuts me off my bending down and kissing me properly. I smile and kiss back before pushing him away and sitting up "We're not doing anything until you're healed"

He scoffs "I'm fine"

"You're lying" I say bluntly. I stroke his cheek and run my thumb across his bottom lip. He looks into my eyes "I'm just looking out for you sweetie, okay? I care about you and I don't want to see you get hurt." Tears spring to my eyes "It killed me when I thought you were a walker and when you got shot, I have never felt so scared in my life." I wrap my arms around is shoulders carefully "Please just let yourself heal, don't push yourself…please"

Tears are running down my face at this point as my face is buried into his neck. He wraps his arm around my waist and holds me to him "I promise" he mutters.

I pull away and kiss him "thank you" I tell him between kisses. "Now sleep"

I stand up and move to the door "Gwen?"

I turn to him "Yeah?"

"Stay"

I smile and lie down next to him "Of course"

I turn the light out and snuggle into his chest. I fall asleep listening to his heart beat.


	13. Peach

The next morning Daryl says he wants to go back to his own tent, even though Hershel said he could stay in the house, Daryl refused. He isn't completely healed yet obviously but he can walk fine, one more day of bed rest and then he can move around more. That's what Hershel tells me. I help Daryl back to his tent. He winces as I help him down onto his bed. I apologise profusely yet again.

"I'll go get you something to eat" I say and leave his tent, passing Andrea on the way. I should probably apologise to her too. My temper got the better of me…again.

"How's Daryl?" Nessa asks as she hands me a plate of food.

"He's been better" I reply with a smile. "He keeps trying to do stuff and I don't want him to push himself"

Nessa grins slyly "What kind of stuff?"

I smirk and reply "stuff"

She tuts "I live vicariously through you and you give me no details, you suck"

"Yes I do" I agree, with implications.

She laughs so hard she nearly falls out of her chair. "Slut" she says through laughing

"Bitch" I reply

"Jerk" She finishes and we grin at each other.

Glenn walks up to me looking troubled "peaches?" He asks holding a basket up

I take two and a couple of bits of jerky for Daryl "Thanks"

He smiles quickly before walking away. I call after him "Glenn, what's troubling you?"

He turns to me sharply, wide eyed "Nothing! Nothing's troubling me"

I give him a sceptical look "You know where I am when you want to stop lying to me" I say it in a whisper so no one else can hear.

He runs off and I shake my head. Andrea's already back when I move to head back to Daryl and I stop to talk to her. She looks at me terrified when I stand in front of her which makes me feel like shit.

"Andrea, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. I know you were only trying to help and you were trying to protect everyone and I respect you for that. I've got a temper and it got the better of me" I say quietly.

She grins at me "You're Scottish, being hot headed is what you guys are famous for, right?"

I laugh and nod "Yeah, we have a habit of scaring people but it wasn't my intention, forgive me?"

She grins and nods "Do you forgive me?"

"He's got no permanent damage so yeah, of course I forgive you" I reply

"You really care about him, huh?" she asks with a smile.

I smile back "Yeah, I really do"

I finally manage to get all the way to Daryl's tent without being stopped or being interrogated or apologizing, it's barely morning and I'm already exhausted. I slip into Daryl's tent to see him poking holes into the netting with one of his bolts.

"Stop that, you'll let bugs in" I scold sitting down next to his cot.

He turns of me "You took too damn long, I got bored"

I hand him the plate and a peach and the jerky. "I got you treats"

"This ain't the kind of treat I want" He mutters while staring pointedly at my breasts.

I smirk "Behave and eat your breakfast"

He does and I eat my peach, God it tastes good! I miss fresh, everything! Daryl places his empty plate next to his bed and stares at me.

"Ain't you got somethin' to do?" He asks

I stare at him blankly then stagger to my feet, "I'm sorry! Do you want to be left alone? I'll leave"

He grabs my wrist and pulls me down to sit on his cot "I didn' say that and stop apologizin', you ain't got nothing to apologize for."

I grin and lean down to kiss him. He kisses back eagerly and grabs onto the back of my neck tightly, making sure I can't get away. I twist my body so I'm half on top of him and push him back on the cot and my hair falls down over my shoulder, acting like a curtain, blocking us off from the outside world. One of my hands is placed on the cot to keep myself hovered over him, the other caresses his cheek. His hands are placed on my waist and one of his hands is already travelling up my shirt. He runs his fingers in feather light circles across my stomach making it contract and making me feel tingly all over. I giggle into his mouth at sensation. I feel him smirk and his hand moves further up until it makes contact with my bra.

"Gwen?" Rick's voice interrupts.

I groan and pull away from Daryl slowly. "I'm Coming" I call.

"I wish" Daryl mutters

I look down at him and he looks pissed "I won't be long. I'm not going to gun practice so I'll be staying here" I tell him with a laugh and stand up.

"I don' know why they need ya to approve every little decision" He growls.

I laugh again and bend down to kiss him one more time "Because men naturally can't do shit without womanly advice. Like the old saying goes 'behind every great man there's a greater woman" I tease before leaving.

"Does that make me a great man?" He asks joking as I step out the tent.

"Daryl, you are the greatest man I have ever met" I reply with complete sincerity before walking over to Shane, Rick and Jimmy.

"Hello boys, sorry for taking so long" I state with a small grin.

"No problem" Rick says "We're just discussing where Sophia might have headed."

"I'm not a very good grid searcher, I can read a map and I can get from A to B but that's about it" I confess.

Rick grins at me before flinging his arm around my shoulder and gives me a side hug "You're cute when you're clueless"

I laugh and push him off me playfully "Don't get used to it! It doesn't happen often"

When Rick touches me it's different to when Shane does it or Daryl. When Daryl touches me my stomach is filled with butterflies but it's comfortable and safe and I never want him to stop. When Shane touches me I feel uncomfortable and scared. With Rick it's like when I used to hug my brother, safe and relaxed but nothing deeper.

I look over at Shane and he clearly thinks otherwise, I swear if looks could kill Rick would be 20 feet under! Usually, in the old world, I'd shrug that off as minor jealously but now? He probably would kill Rick.

"Hey! Peach man?" Shane yells to Glenn, regaining his composure

"The creek flows south, past that farmhouse Daryl found. Maybe Sophia dropped the doll there, the current brought it downstream." Rick states, pointing at the map, for my benefit.

"So what, you think she took this road here and then she went north?" Shane asks

"Yeah, what's up that way?" Rick asks Jimmy

"A housing development. It went in maybe 10 years ago." Jimmy replies.

"Take a run up there after gun practice. I'll hold down the fort here, but take back-up. After what went down with Daryl, I don't want anyone going out alone. We stay in pairs." Rick states.

"You wanna come with me Gwen?" Shane asks

I shake my head "I'm not going to the gun practice and coming back for me is a waste of petrol"

Glenn appears and Shane takes a peach "I'll take suggestions on a partner then" He says, sounding annoyed.

Rick must have caught onto his tone and says "See how they do on the range, then take your pick."

I look at Glenn and he still looks worried and now he's staring at Rick like he wants to tell him something but he says nothing. He then looks over his shoulder at Lori, who looks at Glenn with worry in her eyes. Then Glenn looks back at Rick.

"My binoculars" Shane states

"Oh yeah, yeah" Glenn says as he is shaken out of his trance. He hands them over and then without looking at us, he storms off.

What was that about? I look at Rick, then at Lori, then back to Rick and then it clicks and I gasp out loud by accident.

"What's wrong?" Shane asks.

I shake my head "Nothing"

He frowns looking confused and opens his mouth to say something else when Patricia and Beth walk up.

"We'd like to join you for gun training today." Beth says

"Hershel's been very clear. I can't involve any of you in what we do without his okay." Rick states

"He doesn't like it, but he consented." Beth replies.

"Otis was the only one who knew guns. Now that he's gone, we gotta learn to protect ourselves. Her father saw the sense in that." Patricia states

Rick looks sceptical "No offense, but I'll ask Hershel myself."

Shane walks off to talk to Carl and I head over to Lori "You okay?" I ask her

She looks at me surprised "I'm fine"

"You can tell me anything you know, I'm here for you like you were there for me" I tell her.

She stops moving and opens her mouth to say something when Shane storms over with Carl in one hand and a gun in the other. He hands it to Lori "You're son had this"

I swear her face went red as she yelled "Rick!"


	14. Love

Rick comes over followed closely by Dale, she shows them the gun then sticks it into her jeans "How the hell did this happen?" She snaps.

"Well, it's my fault. I let him into the RV. He said he wanted a walkie, that you sent him for one." Dale tells Lori.

"So on top of everything else, he lied. What's he thinking?" Lori states, fuming.

"He wants to learn how to shoot. He asked me to teach him. Now it's none of my business, but I'm happy to do it. It's your call." Shane says.

"I'm not comfortable with it." Lori says and looks at Rick who looks like he agrees with Shane and Shane sighs.

"Oh, don't make me out to be the unreasonable one here. Rick?" She turns to her husband for help

"I know. I have my concerns too, but..." Rick starts but Lori cuts him off

"There's no but. He was just shot. He's just back on his feet and he wants a gun?" Lori snaps.

"Better than him being afraid of 'em. There are guns in camp for a reason. He should learn to handle them safely." Rick says

"I don't want my kid walking around with a gun." Lori says

"But how can you defend that? You can't let him go around without protection." Rick argues

"He's as safe as he'll ever be right here. Look, everything you're saying makes perfect sense. It feels wrong. I mean I didn't feel good about him following you out into the woods. And I wish I'd said something. I should've gone with my gut." Lori says looking guilty and desperate.

"He's growing up, thank God. We've got to start treating him more like an adult." Rick says.

"Then he needs to act like one. He's not mature enough to handle a gun." Lori snaps then turn to me "Gwen? You can't possibly agree with this"

Everyone looks at her surprised at the fact she's asking someone who's not Carl's parent something about Carl. I hold my hands up, knowing nothing about children wielding guns.

"Hey, I'm British, guns are illegal in our country, if you want to learn how to shoot it's under strict condition and you have to be over 18. Most Brits take one look at a gun and run in the opposite direction so, to be honest, in my head, the idea of a 12 year old holding a gun scares the shit out of me but that was before the world went to shit and carrying a gun was the difference between life and death" I tell her

"I'm not gonna play with it, mom. It's not a toy. I'm sorry I disappointed you, but I want to look for Sophia and I want to defend our camp. I can't do that without a gun." Carl states walking up to us

"Shane's the best instructor I know. I've seen him teach kids younger than Carl." Rick says.

Lori caves and takes Carl's chin in one of her hands and looks at him seriously "You will take this seriously and you will behave responsibly. And if I hear from anyone in this camp that you're not living up to our expectations..."

"He won't let you down" Rick interrupts staring at Carl pointedly.

Carl looks at his dad and nods "Yeah" then looks back at his mum.

Everyone sets off for gun practice leaving only Lori, Glenn, Dale, Daryl and I in camp. I grab onto Lori and pull her over to her tent. "When you going to tell me what I already know huh?" I ask

She looks at me shocked "I don't…"

"Lori, don't start" I state

She stays quiet so I continue "I've been around a lot of pregnant people in my time, especially the last few years with all my friends settling down and stuff so I know the signs, that and Glenn is really obvious, he didn't even have to say anything and I knew"

Tears spring to her eyes as she flings her arms around my neck "Gwen, what do I do?"

I hold her "Does Rick know?"

She shakes her head into my shoulder "Just Glenn and I?"

She nods. I sigh "Tell Rick, don't do anything rash, please"

She pulls back and says "I trust you Gwen, I trust you with my sons life as well as my husbands and my own. You're like my sister, so I'm going to tell you something that no one else can know"

I nod feeling quite scared "Biologically, the baby might not be Rick's. It might be Shane's"

My jaw drops. That lying, mother fucking dickhead! I grab Lori's hands "It's not his" I tell her "It's Rick's. Biologically or not this baby is Rick's, okay? Shane took advantage of the fact you were grieving for your husband when you thought he was dead and it was Shane who told you that! Don't you dare feel guilty over something that bastard did. Understand?" She looks at me surprised then nods with a smile on her face.

She laughs a little then looks at me seriously "He only used me to relieve his frustrations. It's you he wanted, who he's always wanted. That worries me. I'm scared he might hurt a lot of people to get you" She wraps me into a fierce hug "I'm scared he might hurt you if you keep rejecting him and now you're with Daryl he's worse. Then there is Rick. I know there is nothing between you but Shane's jealousy is so out of hand he thinks there is. I can see it in his eyes when he looks at him"

I grip onto Lori's shirt feeling terrified "I don't know what to do" I tell her.

"I'll look after you. So will Rick and Daryl" She states.

I pull away from her gently. "Speaking of Daryl, I need to check on him"

She strokes my cheek wiping away something wet, it wasn't till then I realised I was crying. I smile and walk away from her wiping my eyes furiously before climbing into Daryl's tent with a fake smile plastered on my face.

"What happened?" He snaps

"What do you mean?" I ask surprised

He struggles into a seated position "you've been crying an' that smile is fake"

"How could you know that?" I ask

He goes slightly red but stares me down "I love your smile" He says bluntly.

It's my turn to go red. Is it just my smile he loves?

"Why were you crying?"

I tell him everything, leaving out Lori's pregnancy "Shane scares me! I don't feel safe around him." I throw myself onto Daryl and bury myself into his chest the tears falling again "He wants me Daryl and he's not going to stop! He won't leave me alone! He's becoming increasingly more jealous of Rick too. I think he might try to kill you or Rick or both!"

Daryl rubs his hands on my back gently. "He won' lay his hands on you! I promise you that!"

"I lov…" I start then catch myself.

"You what?" He asks.

I stumble to my feet and blush "Nothing!"

I try to run out but he grips my arm and he pulls me back a little harder than he meant too and sends me sprawling on the floor. I land with a small scream.

"Jesus! Gwen, I'm sorry!" Daryl exclaims as he sits up quickly and ends up falling off his cot and on top of me.

He knocks the wind out of me from his weight. I drop my head back onto the tent floor and groan. I get my breath back and start laughing. Daryl pushes his weight onto his hands and looks at me in confusion.

"Talk about a series of unfortunate events." I state breathlessly.

He grabs my chin between his thumb and forefinger. "You what?" He repeats.

"I can't" I whisper averting my eyes from him.

He places his mouth over mine in a very gentle kiss. The gesture surprises me but I kiss back happily. He pulls away suddenly "You what?"

"I've never said it before" I mutter

"Say it" He growls and kisses my jaw then my neck.

I stay quiet but my heart rate is increasing steadily till my heart is pounding hard against my chest. He bites my neck harshly and I moan loudly "Say it!" He hisses.

"I love you!" I shout

He smirks against my neck and pulls back. He leans down to my ear and whispers "I love you too"

I look at him surprised "You do?"

He smirks "You're surprised?"

I blush and look away "No…just, yeah surprised"

He laughs and pulls himself back onto his cot. I help him as he winces.

I lift his shirt "You nearly ripped your stitches" I scold.

He smirks "It was worth it"

I blush again and kiss him quickly then place my forehead on his "Shut it, you"


	15. Meanings and Motherhood

I hear laughing and car doors slamming followed by Carl's excited voice calling to his mother. I smile and look towards the tent door but make no effort to move towards it, instead I lie down next to Daryl and bury myself into his chest. My God this guy is comfy!

"Gwen?" Nessa's voice calls.

I groan but press myself further into Daryl. He laughs "You not goin'?"

"Nope" I reply "Whatever it is she can deal with it herself, she's a big girl"

His hand falls onto my hip and he traces my tattoo with his index finger. I start to feel kind of tired when the damn tent door is opened "Gwen?"

I lift my head angrily at the intruder, its Nessa. "Jesus Nessa! Don't you knock?" I snap

She looks at the tent confused "On what?"

"What is it?" I ask sharply

"We're back" She replies

"Uh huh I know I have ears. I'm not going to wait at the door with milk and cookies" I snap at her

She doesn't take my words to heart, she never does. She simply smirks and shrugs "Well you should, mum"

I throw one of Daryl's shirts at her "Get out"

She ducks out the tent before she's hit and laughs "Sorry, mum!" She calls

I sit up, feeling pissed "I'm gonna kick her ass!"

Daryl grips my wrist and pulls me back down "You're hot when you're angry" He growls as he kisses my jaw. I melt into him and sigh.

"I'm assuming it was you that told Hershel I was your girlfriend?" I ask with a grin.

He looks away from me and nods "He thought you were my wife but Nessa told him different before I could say anythin'"

I laugh "That's Nessa, after the last boyfriend I had, she gets a bit protective when it comes to me and men"

"Why?" He asks

"It doesn't matter" I reply looking away from him

He grabs my chin and forces me to look at his face "Tell me" He demands.

I laugh "It's nothing really, he was a dick… a horrible, nasty little man. He used to put me down a lot, said I was fat and ugly and some other colourful choices of insults. I finally had enough when he cut my wrist and tried to tell everyone I tried to commit suicide and he wrestled the knife out of my hand. He made himself sound like a real hero until I set that shit straight! That's why I got the wrist tattoo, to cover the scar"

I lifted my wrist to show him the tattoo, you can sort of see the scar but it's not as bad as it was without the tattoo. He takes my wrist and kisses the tattoo gently. "I will never hurt you like tha'. You're perfect"

I grin and kiss his forehead. "You talk shit, but I like it"

I stand up and stretch "I'm gonna get us water, okay?"

He stares at my abdomen and nods. I laugh and leave the tent. I head over to the water bucket and start filling mine and Daryl's water bottles up when I hear yelling. I put down the bottles and wander around Lori's tent just to see Maggie throwing things at Lori's feet.

"Next time you want something, get it your damn self. We're not your errand boys." Maggie shouts at Lori and she is pissed!

Lori looks terrified "Maggie"

Maggie couldn't care less as she picks up a packet and throws it at Lori "And here's your abortion pills!"

She storms away and Glenn follows her. I look at Lori who has tears cascading down her cheeks. I rush forward and pull her into a hug as she falls to the ground, I go with her.

"Gwen…I…" she chokes through tears.

I hush her and stroke her hair as I feel tears soak through my shirt. Her tears are silent apart from a few choked breaths. She pulls away from me, her face a mess. I wipe her cheeks with my sleeve.

"I nearly got them killed, Gwen" She manages to get out. "For what? Something I might not do… I'm the worst!" She cries.

"Shh, Lori, it's okay. She was just scared." I pick up the morning after pills "These probably won't work, you know that right? It's not called the morning after pill for nothing. Up to 72 hours it works 98% of the time but if your test is showing positive, it's unlikely"

She nods "I know, I couldn't think of anything else, I didn't know what to do"

"I'm not that kind of Doctor, so I'm not qualified to give you that kind of advice. As a friend on the other hand, I can tell you, this is your decision and yours alone. Tell Rick, don't tell Rick. Take the pills don't take the pills. I won't judge but I will be here for you no matter what. Okay?" I tell her.

She nods. I stroke her cheek before standing up "You need anything?"

She forces a smile "No thank you, I just need time alone"

I nod "No problem, call if you need anything"

She nods and I finally get the water and go back to Daryl "Sorry, every time I go out there I'm stopped by someone"

He frowns "People need to learn to take care of their own problems, you're not their mom"

I laugh and hand him his water bottle "They chose the worst mother figure! I would be an awful mother"

He frowns "From what I've heard you would be a great mom"

I raise an eyebrow "What have you heard?"

"Your nephew, told me you used to look after him a lot." He says

"I got to give them back at the end of the day, can't do that with your own. I always got really frustrated when I would watch them for too long. I knew I wouldn't be very good. My mum says it's different with your own but I don't think so. I believe if you think you can't be a good mother, don't be one" I pause for a moment "You really didn't need to know that"

He strokes my hair "You'll never have kids?"

I shake my head "I couldn't, not in this world"

"What if you got pregnant by accident?" He asks

I shrug, thinking of Lori and the awful choice she has to make "I wouldn't know unless I was in that situation but I believe I would keep it"

He kisses me roughly and I make a noise of surprise into his mouth. Did I say something good? He grabs my hips and flips me onto my back. I hit the cot and another noise of surprise escapes my lips. I gasp then moan as he attacks my neck with his mouth and I moan even louder when he bites down on my collar bone. He places his hand over my mouth and pulls at the buttons of my jeans. I barely have time to protest when he rips them off my body and throws them aside. He gets my underwear off just as quickly and plunges two fingers into me and uses his other hand to cover my mouth again as I let out a surprised scream. A scream which turns into loud moans has he starts pumping his fingers in and out of my roughly. He doesn't do this for long before he grabs my hips with both hands and turns me on to my stomach. I hear him work on his jeans and without warning he plunges into me. I bite into his pillow to stop the fucking loud moan that bubbled in my throat. He pounds into me erratically and with no rhythm and yet it feels amazing. I bite into the pillow harder as I feel my orgasm build and close my eyes tightly as it washes over me, my nails dig into the pillow and I swear I bit a hole into it. Daryl keeps going for only a little while longer before he stills inside of me. He pulls out of me and I collapse onto the cot with a gasp and Daryl lies down next to me.

"What was that?" I ask breathlessly.

He smirks "I wanted you"

"I strictly remember saying, not until your better" I say with a frown

"I'm fine, woman, good Lord" He says exasperated.

I grin before reaching for my underwear and pulling it on, followed by my jeans. "You going somewhere?" he growls at me.

I look at him surprised "No, can't a girl get dressed?"

"Not with a body like that ya can't" He says, looking like a child who just had their favourite toy taken off him.

I grin and walk over to the bed and lie back down beside him as the sun sets over the tent "You're a little perv, ain't ya?" I tease

He smirks "Only for you"


	16. Barn

I wake up stupid early the next day and slide out of the cot and towards the fire pit. The sun is just starting to rise when I start the fire and start making a modest breakfast for everyone. Nessa comes out not minutes after I start and her eyes widen.

"What are you doing?" She asks, panicked.

"Making breakfast" I tell her confused.

"Uh huh, no way, I told you not to go near a stove!" She says moving me out of the way

I drop to the floor crossed legged and pout "It's not a stove" Our voices must have woke people up because everyone was starting to fall out of their tents.

Each and every one of them laughed when they saw me on the floor, clearly in a huff.

"Don't get technical, Guinevere! You plus cooking equals disaster!" Nessa scolds.

"I'm not that bad" I mutter.

"Yes you are, you nearly burnt the damn house down" She says.

"Once" I say childishly.

She sighs audibly and starts plating food up for people. Daryl, who came out in the middle of mine and Nessa's conversation, had planted himself in my chair so I crawl over and nestle myself in between his legs. Nessa hands me a plate and I take it with a small 'thank you'. We eat in silence for a while when Glenn stands up and walks into the middle of the group. I look up at him as he looks around at everyone like he wants to say something. It pisses me off when most people don't pay any attention.

Then he says something that does get everyone's attention "Hey guys, um…so… The barns full of walkers"

I drop my fork at his declaration. I put down my plate and jump to my feet and I head towards the barn quickly.

Rick is right behind me, followed by everyone else. As I reach the barn I slow down a bit and walk over to it cautiously, afraid that the walkers might burst through it without warning. Shane grabs my shoulder to stop me getting any closer and gently pulls me behind him and, surprisingly, pushes me into Daryl, who catches me looking equally surprised. I suppose he knows if anyone on this camp, other than him, will protect me with their life, it would be Daryl. Shane walks towards the barn as cautiously as I did and peers into the gap in the door. He jumps back suddenly as the walkers smash against the door. He storms away from the door looking pissed.

"You cannot tell me you're all right with this." Shane says, completely agitated

"No I'm not, but we're guests here. This isn't our land." Rick snaps back

"This is our lives, man!" Shane shouts back

Glenn looks around nervously and says "Lower your voice."

"We can't just sweep this under the rug." Andrea says.

"It ain't right. Not remotely." Shane snaps, then calms down a smidge "Okay, we've either got to go in there, we've got to make things right or we've just got to go. Now we have been talking about fort Benning for a long time."

"We can't go." Rick states

"Why, Rick? Why?" Shane asks

"Because my daughter is still out there." Carol says

Shane runs his hands over his face frustrated "Okay. Okay, I think it's time that we all start to just consider the other possibility."

"We're not leaving Sophia behind." I snap at him

"I'm close to finding this girl. I just found her damn doll two days ago." Daryl says, moving from behind me to in front of me

"You found her doll, Daryl. That's what you did. You found a doll." Shane states

Daryl looks pissed off and moves forward "You don't know what the hell you're talking about."

"I'm just saying what needs to be said. You get a good lead, it's in the first 48 hours." Shane shouts.

"Shane, stop!" Rick snaps

"Let me tell you something else, man. If she was alive out there and saw you coming all methed out with your buck knife and geek ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction." Shane shouts at Daryl.

Daryl goes for Shane and vice versa. Rick gets in the middle of them and pushes them apart and everyone starts yelling at them. I move in front of Daryl and wrap my arms around his waist and push him back.

I pull back but keep my hands on his chest and shout over everyone in the strongest accent I can muster "Right! That is enough! Both of you!"

Silence falls over the group and Rick talks first, eyeing me warily "Now just let me talk to Hershel. Let me figure it out."

"What are you gonna figure out?!" Shane screams at him.

"I said enough!" I shout at him. His eyes fall to me and he shuts his trap.

"If we're gonna stay, if we're gonna clear this barn, I have to talk him into it. This is his land." Rick says

"Hershel sees those things in there as people... Sick people... His wife, his stepson." Dale says

"You knew?" Rick asks, shocked

"Yesterday I talked to Hershel." Dale replies

"And you waited the night?" Shane asks, still pissed but quieter

"I thought we could survive one more night. We did. I was waiting till this morning to say something. But Glenn wanted to be the one." Dale snaps

"The man is crazy, Rick, if Hershel thinks those things are alive or no." Shane yells again.

I was about to scream at him when the doors of the barn starts to shake and Daryl jumps in front of me protectively. I grip onto his arm tightly, praying that damn barn door doesn't open.

A while later I'm talking to Rick about what he's going to say to Hershel "You can't exactly walk up to him and say, 'Hey, can we kill the walkers in your barn? Thanks'"

"I know, but what else am I supposed to do?" Rick asks, frustrated

"I really don't know mate, I'm not exactly a people person, I worked with the dead for a living, the best I can do is help identify the bodies once they've been taken care of" I say, agitated "you were a cop, wasn't part of your job description to break bad news to people when necessary? Like 'Sorry Hershel, but I have to tell you, those people in your barn are really dead, not sick, dead! How do I know that? Oh, just the small matter of them decomposing!'"

Rick fights the smile on his face then drops his head into his hands "We need to stay here" He mutters.

I place my hand on his wrists gently and pull them away from his face "I know" I tell him sincerely

He smirks "Of course you do"

I smile at him sheepishly "I worked it out myself if that helps any?"

He smiles "How did you do that?"

I grin "I'm a Forensic Anthropologist! It's my job to be observant"

He pulls me into a hug "I know you looked after her and helped her make the decision she finally did, thank you"

I pat his back and smile "No problem"


	17. Disappointment

I walk towards Nessa who is hanging up clothes. I look around at the fire "Where's Daryl?" I ask

She shrugs "I saw him go towards the stables."

My eyes widen "He what?" I yell

She jumps at my harsh tone and I run off towards the stables. I get there just in time to see Daryl stagger grabbing his side as he throws a saddle to the ground. I jump forward at the same time Carol does.

"Are you okay?" she asks concerned.

He swats her hand away angrily and yells "Leave me be!" He storms away holding his side "Stupid Bitch!"

I freeze in my spot at the stable door and he also freezes when he sees me standing there "Gwen…"

I shake my head in disappointment and walk away. He catches up to me and grabs my arm "I didn' mean what I said to Carol"

I shake him off "It's not that Daryl! You promised me you wouldn't do anything until you were fully healed!"

He looks away from me guiltily. I grab his face in my hands and force him to look at me. "I love you, Dixon! You said you loved me too so why on earth would you put me through that? Why would you let me sit here and wonder wither or not you were dead? If you wanted someone to go out looking for Sophia I would have done it. I'll still do it if you want!"

I let go of his face and step back from him "I'm disappointed in you Daryl"

I turn and walk away from him, holding back my tears. I'm British, I don't cry, I carry on!

Rick comes back from talking to Hershel then Shane. Then Andrea, Andy, Rick and I stand around the hood of a car and begin to plan our search for Sophia.

"She could be moving this way South. If Sophia kept in that direction, she might have gotten out of the forest and into the farmland. So we take 74 up to Ivy Road, then push down South on foot through the forest till we hit Christopher, go east a couple of miles and then double back." Rick says pointing at the map.

"Rick" Hershel's voice calls from behind us and we all turn.

"Hershel. We just have our guns out because we're gonna go look for Sophia." Rick says.

"Before you do that, I could use your help with something." Hershel says

"Count me in." Andrea says helpfully

"Thank you, but I just need Rick." Hershel says

"I'll be down at the barn keeping watch until you're ready." Andrea tells Rick.

Andrea and I share a look before I sigh and walk away from the car. I'll just look for the damn kid myself! I pull myself together and calm down. That would be bad and then you will be worrying people. I decide to go for a little walk to cool off my head. As I do I see Lori cutting something in the distance and head for her. Shane beats me to her.

I edge forward carefully as Shane gets more animated and Lori gets angrier. I'm close enough to hear what they're saying.

"And I know the reason why you didn't is because you know it's mine." Shane says, the baby.

"It's Rick's. Okay." Lori states

"You know, we carried on quite a bit before Rick got back, Lori. It's mine. You know it is." Shane says

"You're wrong. You're wrong. I'm sorry. Shane, I'm sorry. But even if it's yours, it's not gonna be yours. It's never gonna be yours and there's nothing you can do to change that." Lori snaps.

I clear my throat a little. They look up at me shocked and Shane jumps to his feet trying to find an explanation. Lori looks embarrassed but I just look at Shane with a smirk that said 'is that right?'

"Gwen…" Shane says trying to find the words. "Gwen, it's not what you think" He pleads.

"I have a doctorate Shane, I'm not stupid so don't insult me." I step forward until I'm right in his face and say dangerously "It's not your baby, get over it and leave them alone"

I turn on my heels and storm away. Shane pursues me, calling my name. I break into a run, aiming for the house. He runs after me and is unfortunately faster. He catches my arm and presses me into the farm house roughly.

"Get off me!" I scream at him.

"Shh, shh" He mutters. He strokes my cheeks then brushes his thumb over my mouth.

My whole body starts to shake in fear and I feel ill when he looks at me the way he is, with lust. "Lori meant nothing to me, I swear"

"Shane, I don't care!" I snap back

"You do" he says calmly and presses his body further into mine and uses one of his legs to push mine apart and he presses his thigh into my crotch lightly.

Fear rushes through me but I don't let it show "I really don't. I just can't believe you had the cheek to fawn all over me and tell me you love me when you're banging you best pals wife as well… That's sick and low even for you" I hiss

He puts his head down "I only ever thought of you, even when I was…" He pauses when he notices me pull a disgusted face "I've only ever wanted you" He says

I struggle harder "I do not want you, I never have! I want Daryl and I have Daryl. Lori has her husband, her son and her baby. They're a family. If you love me so much why do you care if the baby is your or not?"

He looks at me and his eyes darken and I feel physically sick with worry, I don't know why but whatever Shane is thinking, it's not going to end well for someone.

I sigh and the look disappears "Look Shane, move on, I think Andrea has a thing for you why don't you spend more time with her. Go after someone who is actually available. Now get off"

"Hey! Get your fucking hands off of my little sister!" Nessa snaps loudly.

Shane glares at her angrily "We're talking!"

Nessa eyes burn with rage as she closes in "Get off of her now, Shane or you will regret ever crossing me, I promise you that"

Shane lets go of me slowly and smirks at Nessa "What could you possibly?"

I smirk as does Nessa "Don't judge a book by its cover Shane, you may live to regret it" Nessa warns

Nessa takes my hand and we walk back to camp together. We get back to camp and I collapse onto the ground, actually feeling ill now and tired, so very tired.

"Gwen?" Nessa says concerned and kneels down with me.

I feel myself passing out when a pair of wrap around my shoulders and a firm body presses into my back. Afraid its Shane I jump and turn my head, wincing as my neck cracks.

I fall back onto Daryl's chest, officially too exhausted to move. "What is it? What's wrong?" He asks concerned.

"I'm so tired and I don't feel too great" I mutter.

Lori comes jogging over looking distraught "You okay?" I ask her

"That's my line!" She says dropping to her knees.

I rub my face and sit up "I'm fine, I haven't had my pills in a few day" I turn to Daryl "Would you mind getting them for me? They're in my tent"

He nods and runs off to my tent. Lori grabs my shoulders "Honey, You have to tell Daryl what Shane just did"

Nessa nods in agreement "Food, you need food, I'll go get you some" She gets up and walks away

I look at Lori and say "He didn't hurt me. It's you that needs to tell Rick what just happened. I'm worried Lori, for you, not me. If he wants me so badly, then why does he care about the paternity of your baby?"

She looks scared "I don't know"

"Neither do I, I think we need to keep a very close eye on Shane from now on, this world is taking his humanity, it's only a matter of time until he turns into a monster that will take what he wants" I warn her

She kisses my forehead and pulls back worriedly "You're hot"

I smirk "Thank you"

She shakes her head "No you're burning up!"

I wave her off "I'm fine, stop worrying! You're having a baby for Christ sake"

She looks up and smiles. I look up to as Daryl rushes back, pills and water in hand.

Lori walks away as Daryl hands me both objects. I take my pill then some water and sigh. "Today's been one hell of a day right?"

He nods and starts biting his thumb.

"What?" I ask

He looks at me questioningly. I point to his thumb "You only do that if are worried or if something's on your mind so what is it?"

He looks at me in surprise "I'm sorry" he says

"For?"

"Disappointing you" He mutters

I laugh a little and touch his cheek "Don't apologize. Just don't do anything stupid again, okay?"

He nods "I showed Carol something" He mutters.

"What?" I ask.

"A whole bunch of Cherokee Roses, I told her I'd find Sophia and I apologized. She asked me why I want to find the girl so bad" He tells me.

"Why is that?" I ask as I climb onto his lap.

He cradles me in his arms and presses his nose into my hair, his words muffled against my black hair as he answers, each word melting my heart "I told her I wanted you to be proud of me, show you I am worthy of you and maybe, one day, show you that I can be a good dad"

I look up at him shocked "Sweetie, I've always been proud of you, I mean, don't get me wrong you've pushed it sometimes. You have always been my hero! You have saved my life so many times and you are more than worthy of me, I love you Daryl Dixon!" I say to him, completely by passing the dad comment, I have no fucking clue where that came from!

He smiles at me and pulls me into a kiss.


	18. Death

I pull away and look around the camp "Where is everyone?" I ask Daryl, climbing off his lap.

He shrugs and stands with me. I look up at the house and see a few people and take Daryl's hand before heading over to them. I see Andrea walk up and I raise an eyebrow.

"I assumed you, Andy and Rick left without me" I say to her and she shrugs

"We were supposed to leave a couple hours ago." Andrea says.

"Yeah you were! What the hell? Damn it. Isn't anybody taking this seriously? We got us a damn trail." Daryl fumes.

I wince as he squeezes my hand a little too tight. He lets go of me and steps forward as Shane walks up "Oh, here we go"

I also notice Shane has the bag of guns. I glare at him, what the hell is he planning? I look up at Lori who looks at me worriedly.

You with me, man?" He asks Daryl, handing him a shotgun.

He looks at me then says "Yeah."

"Time to grow up." He says handing Andy a gun, I glare at him.

"You already got yours?" He asks Andrea

"Yeah. Where's Dale?" Andrea asks

"He's on his way." Shane growls

"Thought we couldn't carry." T-Dog asks

"We can and we have to. Look, it was one thing sitting around here picking daisies when we thought this place was supposed to be safe. But now we know it ain't. How about you, man? You gonna protect yours?" Shane asks handing Glenn a gun.

"Can you stop? You do this, you hand out these guns, my dad will make you leave tonight." Maggie says.

"The rules are no guns!" I snap at him. "Put them away, now!"

"Your boy knows what needs to be done, why don't you?" He asks

"That's another thing, don't go giving guns to my nephew without my permission! He may be 18 but I'm still his guardian!" I snap at him. He ignores me.

"We have to stay Shane" Carl says.

"We ain't going anywhere, okay? Now look, Hershel, he's just gotta understand. Okay? He... Well, he's gonna have to." Shane states. Then he kneels down in front of Carl and holds out a gun "Now we need to find Sophia. Am I right? Huh? Now I want you to take this. You take it, Carl, and you keep your mother safe. You do whatever it takes. You know how. Go on, take the gun and do it."

Lori jumps in front of Carl and pushes him behind her. I snatch the gun out of Shane's hand and get in his face.

"Rick said no guns. This is not your call. This is not your decision to make." I snarl at him.

He glares down at me and steps away from me quickly as T-Dog says "Oh shit"

Shane pulls his hand gun out of its holster and heads towards Rick, Hershel and Jimmy who, for some wacko reason, have got walkers on poles and are herding them towards to barn. Shane takes off at a sprint and I sprint after him.

"Shane! Stop!" I shout at him. He doesn't listen.

The rest follow right behind me. "What the hell are you doing?" Shane screams at them

"Shane just back off!" Rick shouts

"Why do your people have guns?" I shove the gun in my hand into my jeans.

"Are you kidding me? You see? You see what they're holding onto?" Shane continues to yell.

"I see who I'm holding on to" Hershel corrects.

Shane shakes his head "No you don't, man"

"Shane, just let us do this and then we can talk." Rick pleads

"What you want to talk about, Rick? These things ain't sick. They're not people. They're dead. Ain't gonna feel nothing for them 'cause all they do, they kill!" Shane yells "These things right here, they're the things that killed Amy." He continues to yell and turn to Andrea "They killed Otis. They're gonna kill all of us." He screams

"Shane, shut up!" Rick screams back. I have noticed we have moved down to the barn during this screaming match.

"Hey, Hershel man, let me ask you something. Could a living breathing person, could they walk away from this?" He lifts his gun and shoots the walker three times in the chest.

Shane's attitude is really pissing me off "Shane, stop it! Just fucking stop it!"

"That's three rounds in the chest. Could someone who's alive, could they just take that?! Why is it still coming?" Shane screams and shots the walker again. "That's its heart, its lungs. Why is it still coming?" He shoots again. Hershel falls to his knees

"Shane, enough!" Rick yells

"Yeah, you're right man, that is enough" He walks up to the walker and shoots it in the head.

I feel someone grip my arm and I look down at Nessa as she is looking at Shane with disbelief.

Lori joins me on my other side and she squeezes my hand. I squeeze hers back.

"Enough risking our lives for a little girl who's gone! Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us. Enough. Rick, it ain't like it was before! Now if y'all want to live, if you want to survive, you got to fight for it! I'm talking about fighting right here, right now." Shane screams and heads to the barns and knocks down all of the locks, bangs on the doors and steps away, holding his gun up.

Rick starts screaming at Hershel to take the walker. I am officially frozen to the spot. I want to run and stop Shane but the people attached to me won't let me. I could feel myself moving and I could feel both Nessa and Lori gripping me tightly.

Daryl looks back at me briefly and sees me fighting with Nessa and Lori and shouts "Just you stay there Guinevere! I mean it!"

I stop the minute he uses my full first name. The barn is pushed open and walkers spill out of the doors. Shane starts shooting and upon seeing the numbers, the others run forward to help. Carl breaks out of his mums grasp and I dive forward, also breaking his mums grip and grab onto the boy. I fall onto my ass and he falls onto my lap and fights against me until Rick holds out his hand to him and screams.

"Stay back!"

So instead of fighting he collapses into my arms and holds onto my shirt for dear life. Lori drops down at my side and wraps her arms around both her son and me. Finally the shooting stops and Nessa drops down next to me and grabs my upper arm. I look at the massacre in front of me and I have no words. I'm drained…we're out.

There is a solitary growl and grunt of a walker and everyone lifts their guns for the last one. I almost throw up all of Carl when I see who it is. Sophia. Her decomposing small body staggers out of the barn. I notice the bite mark on her shoulder and tears build in my eyes but don't fall. She snarls and grunts at us, not a flicker of remembrance in her eyes.

I hear Carol sob behind me. She rushes forward saying "No! No! Sophia!"

Daryl grabs her before she could run past him and Carl turns his face away and sobs into chest. I grip the boy tighter and rock him slightly. Sophia moves forward, through the bodies and towards our now paralyzed army. All I hear is Carl's, Lori's, and mostly Carol's gut wrenching tears.

I try so hard to hold back mine but one escapes, it runs down my cheek and falls into Carl's hair. That's when Rick moves forward, past Shane and lifts his gun up to Sophia head. As she steps close enough to touch him, he fires, shooting her clean in the head and she drops to the ground, finally at peace.


	19. Funeral

I don't know what to do. Should I take charge of this situation? Let Rick handle it? Just hold Carl and let Lori hold us both? Go over and comfort Carol? Or Daryl? He spent so much time looking for that girl and got injured and for what? To discover she's been in that barn the entire time?

I move. I untangle myself from Carl, Lori and Nessa. I stand and move towards Rick and lower his arm that is still up, gun pointed at nothing. He looks at me startled, confused…defeated.

"Don't look. Don't look" I hear Daryl say.

I turn and watch as Carol breaks from his grip and runs away. Beth moves past me sobbing and picking her way through the bodies, looking for someone, most likely her mother. She turns over her mother's corpse then screams as the walker grabs at her. I rush forward and start pulling her away but the walkers grip is really tight. Shane grabs her too, as does Rick and with a group effort we get her away from it. T-Dog takes it upon himself to smash in the walkers face with his foot. But it is Andrea that kills the walker, ironically, with a scythe.

Beth breaks from my grasp and falls into her dad and hugs him, she still has not stopped sobbing.

They head back up to the house and Shane powers after them looking pissed again. I follow him as does Rick and Glenn.

Shane goes off on one, again "We've been out. We've been combing these woods looking for her and she was in there all along? You knew."

"Leave us alone." Maggie snaps

"Hey, Shane, just stop, man." Rick says grabbing his arm.

Shane shakes him off and says "Get your hands off me. I... - You knew and you kept it from us."

"I didn't know." Hershel says.

"That's bullshit. I think y'all knew." Shane spits at them

"We didn't know!" Maggie yells

"Why was she there?!" Shane asks

"Your... Otis put those people in the barn. Maybe he found her and put her in there before he was killed." Hershel offers, clearly not knowing how Sophia got in that barn

"You expect me to believe that? Do I look like an idiot?" Shane asks getting up in Hershel's face.

I pull him back and push him away slightly "Shane, Leave them alone! They didn't know!"

Shane pushes me hard enough to collide violently into Rick's chest, Rick steadies me and glares at Shane.

"I don't care what you believe!" Hershel yells

"Everybody just calm down." Rick says, trying to be calm

"Get him off my land!" Hershel yells, pointing at Shane.

"Let me tell you something, man" Shane says walking up to Hershel threateningly.

"Hey." Maggie snap then slaps Shane across the face. It took everything I had not to smile "Don't touch him! Haven't you done enough?"

"I mean it... Off my land." Hershel says, addressing all of us this time. They walk into the house and Glenn walks off, leaving Shane, Rick and I alone.

"What are you doing? Hey, what are you doing?" Rick asks Shane, angrily

"Daryl almost died looking for her, Rick." He says it to Rick but he looks at me. Oh no you don't! You are not getting my sympathies playing that card!

"Any one of us could have. I'm gonna tell you right now... That son of a bitch, he knew." Shane says

"He didn't know. He's not like that. He opened his home to us." I argue.

"He put us all in danger, Gwen. He kept a barn full of walkers." He yells at me.

"So you just start an insurrection, hand out guns and massacre his family?" Rick asks

"His family's dead, Rick." Shane says

"Well, he doesn't believe that. He thinks you just murdered them in cold blood." Rick tells him

No, man, I don't care what he thinks." Shane yells

"I was handling it, brother. I was handling it and you just..." Rick yells back.

Shane interrupt, still yelling "You had us out in those woods looking for a little girl that every single one of us knew was dead! That's what you did. Rick, you're just as delusional as that guy. You're handling it, huh?" With that he storms away.

I turn to Rick and shake my head and point in the direction Shane walked in "I swear to God, Rick. He may be your best friend but I swear I'm gonna kill him. He has been losing his mind for weeks now! He cares about nothing or nobody, except…" I stop and turn away.

He grabs my wrist "Except?"

"Nothing" I say

"Except you, right?" He asks worriedly

"You knew?" I ask

"Everyone knows, we just don't know how bad it is." Rick says.

"It's bad, Rick. He's even jealous of you" I tell him before walking away.

I follow Shane back to the barn, Rick close behind me. I look over the bodies and shake my head a little, what a mess.

"You want us to start burying?" T-Dog asks

"We need a service. Carol would want that." Andrea says.

"Yeah, we all want that." Shane says

"Let's... let's dig a grave for Sophia, and Annette and Shawn, uh, over by those trees" Lori says, pointing towards a nice green area surrounded by large trees.

"And we'll need a truck to move the bodies." I say, looking at the distance between us and there.

"I'll get the keys." Jimmy says

Shane stops him "No no. I got the truck."

"And the others? That's a lot of digging." Jimmy asks

"We bury the ones we love and burn the rest." Andrea says.

"Let's get to work." I state.

"Not you, Gwen. Could you check on Carol?" Rick asks.

I nod and walk off to the RV. I walk in and Daryl, Carol and Nessa are sitting silently around the table in the RV. All look utterly defeated and exhausted.

"Stupid question" I say as I walk in. Three pairs of eyes look at me. All broke my heart "how are you holding up?"

Carol looks at me and a small smile crosses her face "Not great"

I smile at her sympathetically and slide in beside her and across from Daryl, diagonally from Nessa. I wrap an arm around Carol's shoulder and she slumps into my grip and sobs rack her body. I make eye contact with Daryl and stretch my hand across the table to him. He takes it and holds it tightly, tighter than necessary.

I look at Nessa and she stares at me sadly and nods, telling me she's fine. I nod back. I stay like that for a good hour or so when Lori climbs into the RV. Carol had long stopped crying at this point and just lays limp against me.

"They're ready." Lori says quietly. I pull away from Carol gently and stand up.

Daryl's hand stays tight in mine and he stands with me. I look at our hands and wonder why he's holding on so tight… I'm not going to disappear.

"Come on." Lori says.

I look down at Carol and she hasn't moved "Why?" she asks, her voice weak

"'Cause that's your little girl." Daryl says, gently

"That's not my little girl. That's some other thing. My Sophia was alone in the woods. All this time I thought... She didn't cry herself to sleep. She didn't go hungry. She didn't try to find her way back. Sophia died a long time ago." Carol states.

Lori leaves, followed closely by Nessa. A low growl sounds from Daryl's throat has he pulls me, a little harshly, out of the RV. We arrive at the grave site and Sophia, Annette and Shawn are buried. After which Daryl storms off and I chase after him but Andy stops me.

"I'm sorry" He says looking down at his hand on my arm

"For what?" I ask confused

"Disappointing you, taking that gun, being a part of all this" He mutters.

I pull him into a hug "No I'm sorry. You're a grown man and I still treat you like a child. You are all the family I have left, you're my sister's son and if anything was to happen to you… I couldn't live with myself"

"I don't want you carrying that baggage" Andy says, angrily "I love you Aunt Gwen but please don't do anything stupid, okay?"

I smile and pull away from him "You sound like me, how unfortunate"

He smiles and walks away towards the Barn


	20. Impatience and Hatlins

I walk away to find Daryl. I need to see if he's okay, I know he's not but still… I'm distracted once again by Lori running up to me and telling me Beth collapsed and they can't find Hershel. I rush to the house and find Rick and Shane not too far in front of me. We enter the house and run up to Hershel's room. There are boxes of clothes and items scattered all over the room.

I look in one box, the others look at other parts of the room. There all filled with female items.

"You're stepmother's things?" Rick asks Maggie.

She takes a deep breath "He was so sure she'd recover. They'd just pick up where they left off."

"Looks like he found an old friend." Shane says holding up a hip flask then tossing it to Rick

"That belonged to my grandfather, gave it to dad when he died." Maggie says taking it off Rick and staring at it.

"I didn't take Hershel for a drinker." Rick says

"No, he gave it up on the day I was born. He didn't even allow liquor in the house." Maggie states

"What's the bar in town?" Rick asks

"Hatlin's. He practically lived there in his drinking days." Maggie tells him

"Betting that's where I'll find him." Rick says.

"Yeah, I've seen the place. I'll take you." Glenn says

"I'll come too" I say

Rick looks at me as if debating with himself before saying "All right, I'll get the truck."

"N... no." Maggie protests grabbing Glenn's arm. I smile at them, awww.

"It's an easy run." Glenn says

"Like the pharmacy?" Maggie asks

"Hey, Maggie? I'll bring him back." Rick says, sounding amused then he leaves the room.

Lori follows as does Shane, I do too. "Rick? You want to have a conversation about this before you leave?" Lori says.

"So you're seriously gonna go after this guy with everything that's going on, huh?" Shane asks in disbelief

"He's right. This is not the time to head off, not today. You don't know what's have..." Lori stars but Rick cuts her off "I'm not arguing."

"I'll go with Glenn, Rick, you can stay here." I say, preferring just to get Hershel and get back without having to discuss everything. "Hell, I'll go myself if I have too!" I say harsher than I meant too.

Shane scoffs "I don't like the idea of you going at all"

"Well you don't get a say in what I do, none of you do. I'll get the truck and I'm leaving in 10, with or without anyone" I snap then storm away.

All this debating and useless chatter is really pissing me off. As the olds saying goes: If you want something done right, do it yourself. Or in this case: if you want something done, period. Do it yourself.

I grab the keys to the truck out of the kitchen and head to the truck, checking the gun I took off Shane is still in my pocket and my knife on my hip I climb into the truck. Not two minutes later, Rick turns up. I shift from the drivers' seat so he can drive. Not long after him, Glenn come out, shotgun in hand.

There is silence as we drive into town until Glen says "Maggie says she loves me. She doesn't mean it. I mean she can't. I mean... well... She... she's upset or confused. She's probably feeling, like..."

Rick smirks "I think she's smart enough to know what she's feeling."

"No. No. No, you know what? She wants to be in love, so she's... she needs something to... to, like... to hold onto." Glenn says very inarticulacy

"Glenn, it's pretty obvious to everyone Maggie loves you, and not just because you're one of the last men standing. So what's the problem?" Rick asks

"I didn't say it back. I've never had a woman say that to me before except my mom, of course, and my sisters. But with Maggie, it's different. We barely know each other. What... what does she really know about me? Nothing. We're practically strangers. But I... I didn't know what to do with it. I just stood there like a jerk." Glenn says

"Oh ouch, that's not what you want when you say I love you first" I say.

"Hey. Hey, this is a good thing, something we don't get enough of these days. Enjoy it. And when we get back, return the favour. It's not like she's going anywhere." Rick says then looks back at me with a smirk "Have you said it yet?"

I raise an eyebrow "To Maggie? No, I don't swing that way" I say with a smile

He laughs "To Daryl"

My face burns and I look out the window and refuse to answer. He takes my silence as a yes and laughs. He pulls the car over and I look around for walkers.

"Rick? I know about Lori, her being pregnant. I got her those pills." Glenn says

"I figured." Rick answers and climbs out of the car. I'm close behind him

"Hey, I'm sorry I kept it from you." Glenn says, running around the car to walk in step with Rick, then looks back at me "And I'm sorry for saying that in front of Gwen"

"Don't be. You did what you thought was right. It just so happens it wasn't. Gwen already knew" Rick says.

Glenn looks back at me "You did?"

I smile "Oh, Glenn, honey, you are an open book"

We edge around to the front door of the bar. Rick looks at me and I lift my gun and nod. He kicks the door open and rushes in, gun raised, just in case. My gun drops immediately when I see Hershel and only Hershel sitting at the bar.

"Hershel." Rick calls.

"Who's with you?" He asks

"Gwen and Glenn."

"Did Maggie send Glenn?" Hershel asks

"He volunteered. He's good like that" Rick replies and walks toward Hershel, I follow.

"How many have you had?" I ask sitting on the bar stool next to him

"Not enough." He replies giving me a small smile

"Let's finish this up back at home. Beth collapsed, is in some sort of state. Must be in shock. I think you are too." Rick says

"Maggie's with her?" Hershel asks

"Yeah, but Beth needs you." I tell him

"What could I do? She needs her mother. Or rather to mourn like she should've done weeks ago. I robbed her of that. I see that now." Hershel says

"You thought there was a cure. Can't blame yourself for holding out for hope." Rick says

"Hope? When I first saw you running across my field with your boy in your arms, I had little hope he would survive." Hershel states

"But he did." Rick says

"He did. Even though we lost Otis. Your man Shane made it back and we saved your boy. That was the miracle that proved to me miracles do exist. Only it was a sham, a bait and switch. I was a fool, Rick, and you people saw that. My daughters deserve better than that." Hershel says and continues drinking.

Rick motions for me to follow him. I do so and we walk over to Glenn. "What do we do? Just wait for him to pass out?" Glenn asks.

"Just go! Just go!" Hershel shouts at us

"I promised Maggie I'd bring you home safe." Rick says

"Like you promised that little girl?" He says and my heart breaks, that was mean Hershel.

Rick moves forward unfazed "So what's your plan? Finish that bottle? Drink yourself to death and leave your girls alone?"

Hershel stands up and turns on Rick angrily "Stop telling me how to care for my family, my farm. You people are like a plague! I do the Christian thing, give you shelter, and you destroy it all!"

"The world was already in bad shape when we met." Rick says

"And you take no responsibility! You're supposed to be their leader!" Hershel yells. Well that's my title taken.

Rick looks back at me, then back at Hershel and yells "Well, I'm here now, aren't I?"

"Yes. Yes. Yes, you are." Hershel says and turns away to sit back on the bar stool and keep drinking.

I move forward and put my hand on Hershel's shoulder gently and say "Come on. Your girls need you now more than ever."

"I didn't want to believe you. You told me there was no cure, that these people were dead, not sick. I chose not to believe that. But when Shane shot Lou in the chest and she just kept coming, that's when I knew what an ass I'd been, that Annette had been dead long ago and I was feeding a rotten corpse! That's when I knew there was no hope. And when that little girl came out of the barn, the look on your face... I knew you knew it too. Right? There is no hope. And you know it now, like I do. Don't you? There is no hope for any of us." Hershel says looking defeated and distraught, he grips my hand in his and I give him a sad smile.

He lets go of me and returns to drinking, I sigh and sit back on the bar stool. I'm getting pretty sick of this.

"Look, I'm done. I'm not doing this anymore, cleaning up after you. You know what the truth is? Nothing has changed. Death is death. It's always been there, whether it's from a heart attack, cancer, or a Walker. What's the difference? You didn't think it was hopeless before, did you? Now there are people back at home trying to hang on. They need us, even if it's just to give them a reason to go on, even if we don't believe it ourselves. You know what? This... this isn't about what we believe anymore. It's about them." Rick says passionately.

I smile at him, he's right. Hershel downs his glass and bangs it on the table as a 'let's go' and turns to get up. That's when I hear the doors open and I turn quickly with my gun raised thinking it's a walker, but it's not. Two guys, who I feel more afraid of, walk in and look at us shocked.

One of them is fat and the other is slim. The slim guy looks at his friend and says "Son of a Bitch, they're alive"


	21. Distrust

Rick lifts his hand and places it over mine and pushes them down. I get the hint and put my arms down, but keep my gun in my hand.

I give them a fake smile "Awright lads, dropping by for a drink?"

The two men look me up and down, stopping at my chest like lechers do, and the slim one steps forward with a sickening smirk "That we have, little lady"

I feel my hand twitch when he calls me that, who is he calling a little lady? Glenn passes Rick a bottle and a glass, Rick puts it on the table and fills it for the guy who sits down on a chair, his friend sits on the bar stool at the other side of Hershel.

"I'm Dave." The slimmer guy says "That scrawny-looking douche bag there is Tony."

"Eat me, Dave." Tony says

"Hey, maybe someday I will. We met on I-95 coming out of Philly. Damn shit-show that was." Dave tells us

"I'm Glenn. It's nice to meet some new people." Glenn says with a laugh

"Rick Grimes." Rick says.

Dave looks at me, well my chest "what's your name, Darlin'?"

I bite the inside of my cheek momentarily "Guinevere, and I'm up here" I snap pointing to my face.

He smirks and looks up at my face "Were you're parents those artsy types?"

I raise an eyebrow "No, I'm Scottish"

He grins "Scottish? That's hot" He hands me a drink "You'll be able to handle many of these, yeah?"

Rick takes it off him and hands it to me. Dave looks at me expectantly so I humour him and down the shot. The alcohol burns slightly but I don't let it show on my face. Years of practice allows me to do this. He smirks.

"How about you, pal? Have one?" Dave asks Hershel

"I just quit." Hershel states

"You've got a unique sense of timing, my friend." Dave says

"His name's Hershel. He lost people today, a lot of them" Rick says.

Dave looks at Hershel sympathetically "I'm truly sorry to hear that. To better days and new friends. And to our dead... may they be in a better place." He toasts before taking his own drink and flinches, wuss.

He leans forward and I notice a gun sticking out the back of his jeans. I look at Rick who has also noticed and is pointedly staring.

Dave notices and pulls it out by the barrel "Not bad, huh? I got it off a cop."

"I'm a cop." Rick says

"This one was already dead." Dave replies

"You fellas are a long way from Philadelphia." Rick says.

"It feels like we're a long way from anywhere." Dave says

"Well, what drove you South?" Rick asks

"Well, I can tell you it wasn't the weather. I must've dropped 30 lbs in sweat alone down here." Dave says.

"I wish." Tony says with a laugh

"No, first it was D.C. I heard there might be some kind of refugee camp, but the roads were so jammed, we never even got close. We decided to get off the highways, into the sticks, keep hauling ass. Every group we came across had a new rumor about a way out of this thing." Dave says

"One guy told us there was the coast guard sitting in the Gulf, sending ferries to the islands." Tony says

"The latest was a rail yard in Montgomery running trains to the middle of the country... Kansas, Nebraska." Dave continues.

"Nebraska?" Glenn asks confused

"Low population, lots of guns." Tony says

"Kinda makes sense." Glenn replies

"Ever been to Nebraska, kid? A reason they call 'em flyover states." Dave says with a smirk "How about you guys?" He asks

"Fort Benning, eventually." Rick lies… hopefully

"I hate to piss in your cornflakes, officer, but... We ran across a grunt who was stationed at Benning. He said the place was overrun by lamebrains." Dave tell Rick

"Wait, fort Benning is gone? Are you for real?" Glenn asks

"Sadly, I am. Oddly, the truth is there is no way out of this mess. Just keep going from one pipe dream to the next, praying one of these mindless freaks doesn't grab a hold of you when you sleep." Dave replies.

"If you sleep" Tony pitches in

"Yeah, it doesn't look like you guys are hanging your hats here. You holed up somewhere else?" Dave asks. I see what he's doing, no, pal, you can't come with us

"Not really." Rick says

"Those your cars out front?" Dave asks

"Yeah. Why?" Glenn asks

"We're living in ours. Those look kinda empty, clean. Where's all your gear?" Dave questions

"We're with a larger group out scouting, thought we could use a drink." I say with a smile.

"A drink? Hershel, I thought you quit." Dave jokes

"Hershel's our designated driver" I say with a forced smile

"Being a Scot, you probably run on alcohol" Dave says with a smirk

I smile sarcastically "Funny guy"

"Well, we're thinking of setting up around here. - Is it... is it safe?" Dave asks

"It can be, although I have killed a couple of walkers around here." Glenn states

"Walkers? That what you call them?" Dave asks

"Yeah." Glenn replies

"That's good. I like that. I like that better than lamebrains." Dave says with a grin

"More succinct." Tony says.

"Tony went to college" Dave says.

"Two years" Tony states.

"What about you Guinevere? You go to college?" Dave asks

I just stare at him but Glenn speaks "Gwen's a doctor"

Dave's eyes brighten slightly "A doctor? We could use one of those"

"I'm not that kind of Doctor" I state coldly.

"So what... so what, you guys set up on the outskirts or something? That new development?" Dave asks, changing the subject

"Trailer park or something? A farm?" Tony asks getting up

"Old McDonald had a farm" Dave sings then asks "you got a farm?"

I look over to Tony and he is peeing on the floor. I feel bile rise in my throat as I cover my mouth and look away disgusted.

"Is it safe?" Dave asks, totally unfazed by his disgusting friend

"It's gotta be." Tony says

"You got food, water?" Dave asks

"You got cooze as hot as that one? Ain't had a piece of ass in weeks." Tony says leering at me.

"Don't hold your breath!" I snap.

Dave rubs his eyes and says "Listen, pardon my friend. City kids... they got no tact. No disrespect. So listen, Glenn..."

"We've said enough" Rick states

"Well, hang on a second. This farm... it sounds pretty sweet. Don't it sound sweet, Tony?" Dave says

"Yeah, real sweet." Tony says

"How about a little Southern hospitality?" Dave asks me.

"I ain't southern, sunshine" I state

"We got some buddies back at camp, been having a real hard time. I don't see why you can't make room for a few more. We can pool our resources, our manpower." Dave tries to plead

"Look, I'm sorry. That's not an option." Rick says

"Doesn't sound like it'd be a problem." Dave says

"I'm sorry. We can't." Hershel says

"We can't take in any more." I say bluntly

"You guys are something else. I thought... I thought we were friends. We got people we gotta look out for too." Dave says

"We just met, mate, we're hardly at friends status besides, we don't know anything about you" I say.

He looks at me with puppy dog eyes and says "No, that's true. You don't know anything about us. You don't know what we've had to go through out there, the things we've had to do. I bet you've had to do some of those same things yourself. Am I right? 'Cause ain't nobody's hands clean in what's left of this world. We're all the same. So come on, let's... let's take a nice friendly hayride to this farm and we'll get to know each other."

"That's not gonna happen" Rick states

"This is bullshit" Tony says.

"Calm down" Rick says

"Don't ever tell me to calm down. I'll shoot you three assholes in the head and take your girl and your damn farm!" Tony snaps at us. Rick positions himself protectively in front of me.

I stand up aggressively "If you even try to kill them or lay a finger on me I will end you!"

Rick grabs me around the waist and Dave stands up and raises his hands.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa. Relax. Take it easy. Nobody's killing anybody. Nobody's shooting anybody, nobodies laying a finger on anybody. Right, Rick? Guinevere? Look. We're just friends having a drink. That's all." Dave says then heads behind the bar.

Rick pushes me back towards Hershel and Hershel takes my arm and pulls me to his side.

"Now where's the good stuff, huh?" Dave says looking through the shelf "Good stuff, good stuff, good stuff. Let's see. Hey, look at that. That'll work." He pulls a bottle from a shelf and turns around and places it on the bar.

"You gotta understand... we can't stay out there. You know what it's like." Dave says, pouring drinks

"Yeah, I do. But the farm is too crowded as is. I'm sorry. You'll have to keep looking. Keep looking." Rick says

"Where do you suggest we do that?" Dave asks

"I don't know" Rick says

"We don't care either" I growl at them

"I hear Nebraska's nice" Rick says

Dave laughs "This guy" He reaches for his gun but Rick shoots him right in the head and turns to Tony and shoots him right in the chest and the stomach. He walks up and shoots Tony in the head for good measure. Wow Rick's good with a gun!

I take a few deep breaths looking between Glenn, Rick and Hershel. "You alright?" Rick asks Glenn, he nods.

"Hershel?" Rick asks, he nods too.

He turns to me and grabs my face in between his hands "Gwen? You okay?"

I nod too "Yeah I'm fine"

He lets go and turns away. "Let's head back" Hershel says.

"Good idea" I reply.

Rick grabs Tony's gun and takes ammo out of his pocket, Glenn grabs Dave's and we head for the door. A light flashes through the door and the sound of wheels on gravel make us drop to the floor.

"Car" Rick says.

The car pulls right up to the front of the bar and door open and close "Dave? Tony? They said over here?" 

"I'm telling you, man, I heard shots." Another man says. There conversation continues and I try and formulate an escape plan.

It's a bar so it will obviously have a back entrance for deliveries and staff, we should try that, but our car is right outside the front door. There is no way we can get to it without being spotted. Maybe we should wait them out? But they might come in. It's dark. If we don't get back soon, Daryl will go ballistic! He doesn't even know I came out here. Surely he's bound to know by now?


	22. Missing

**Nessa's P.O.V**

I sit down at the dining table next to Andy as Andrea, Shane and T-Dog come in. I look at them confused. Where's Gwen? She must be with Daryl.

"They should've been back by now." Andrea says, I look at her confused

"Yeah. They just got holed up somewhere." Shane says

"Who?" I ask

"Rick, Glenn, Hershel and Gwen" Andrea replies sitting at the other side of me.

My eyes flick between her, Shane and Andy. Andy looks as confused and worried as I do. "Gwen went with them? I thought she was with Daryl" I say in a panic

"Calm down, Nessa. We'll... we'll head out first thing in the morning." Shane says to me

"Carl, I want you to keep your head up, okay? Your old man, he's the toughest son of a..." Shane says but is interrupted by Patricia

"No cussing in the house."

Shane looks up at her "Sorry"

"Lori, dinner" Carol calls

"She's not in there." Maggie says

"Where is she?" Dale asks

"Carl, when's the last time you saw your mom?" Shane asks

"This afternoon." Carl replies looking worried

"She was worried about Rick, asked me to look in on Carl." Andrea says

"She went after them?" Dale asks

"She didn't say that." Andrea replies

"Nobody panic. Gonna be around here somewhere." Shane says getting up to look for her.

I get up too, Lori please tell me you didn't, Gwen will kick your ass.


	23. Attacked

**Gwen's P.O.V**

We're still sitting here! Those people won't fucking leave. Rick peeks out of the window then crawls over to us.

"Why won't they leave?" Glenn asks

"Would you?" Hershel asks Glenn

"We can't sit here any longer. Let's head out the back and make a run to the car." I whisper my previous plan.

They nod and we get up to head there when the silence is broken by gunshots and we hit the deck again.

I heard the people whisper then one of them said "did you check the damn bar"

My eyes widen in panic, Fuck! They're going to come in here! They try and open the door but Glenn throws all his weight onto it, closing it.

"Yo, is someone in there?" One of the men asks.

We don't answer, we just look at each other. "Yo, if someone's in there, we don't want no trouble. We're just looking for our friends." The guys says

"We don't want any trouble. We're just looking for our friends. If something happened, tell us. This place is crawling with corpses. If you can help us not get killed, I'd appreciate it." The guy shouts.

They whisper amongst themselves then there is a long silence which Rick stupidly filled "They drew on us!" He calls.

"Dave and Tony in there? They alive?" The man asks

"No." Rick replies.

There was whispering and a guy says "No, I'm not leaving, I'm not telling Jane. I'm not gonna go back and tell them that Dave and Tony got shot by some assholes in a bar."

"Your friends drew on us!" Rick shouts.

Would you believe that, Rick? Because I certainly wouldn't.

Rick continues "They gave us no choice! I'm sure we've all lost enough people, done things we wish we didn't have to, but it's like that now. You know that! So let's just chalk this up to what it was... Wrong place, - wrong..." Guns fire before Rick could finish and the glass breaks above Glenn's head.

Rick stands up and fires back out through the window and shouts at us "Get out of here! Go!"

I stagger after Hershel and Glenn but duck behind the bar as a shot narrowly misses my head.


	24. Kid

**Nessa's P.O.V**

Shane comes back from the search of the barn "She's not at the barn, I checked the yards"

"Where is she?" Carl asks.

"She asked Daryl to go into town. Must've gone herself." Carol says, coming back from talking to Daryl.

Carl runs off and Andrea goes after him.

"Did you know about this?" Shane asks Dale

"No." Dale replies

"Look, just... Did she take a gun?" Shane asks

"I don't know. I wouldn't let her go out there alone." Dale says.

Shane runs for a car and I ask Carol "Does Daryl know Gwen's out there?"

She shrugs "I didn't tell him, I assumed he knew"

I glare at her "If he knew then he would have went after her when Lori asked!"

I turn and run up the field towards a fire in the distance. Someone has to tell him!

 **Gwen's P.O.V**

"Hey! We all know this is not gonna end well! There's nothing in it for any of us! You guys just... Just back off, no one else gets hurt!" Rick shouts but there is no answer.

Glenn runs past me and to the back door and opens it slowly, sticking his gun out first. Then he disappears through the door. A few seconds later I hear a gunshot and stagger to my feet and over to the door.

Rick follows me shouting Glenn's name.

"I'm alright!" Glen calls back. I stop and back track to Rick and Hershel behind a pillar

"Gwen and I will hold 'em here. You cover Glenn. See if you can make it to your car. Tell him... tell him to pull up back. We'll run for it, get the hell out of here." Rick says

"You want me to cover Glenn?" Hershel asks

"You missed all that gun training. It could've come in handy now." Rick says

"Nah, I can shoot. I just don't like to." Hershel replies then runs off.

I look at Rick and shrug "Fair enough"

He lets out a breathless laugh and peaks out behind the pillar. We stay there for a few moments until I hear more gunshots. Rick and I exchange a look before running through the door and down the stairs and over to Hershel who is standing at the last door.

"What happened?" Rick asks

"He fired. He must've hit Glenn. He's behind the dumpster. Doesn't look like he's moving." Hershel says.

"Cover me" I whisper to Rick as I semi kneel and rush over to Glenn quickly.

I drop down in front of him, his eyes are open but he looks terrified. "Are you hit?" I whisper.

He shakes his Head "No"

"It's all right. The car's right there." I say reassuringly

"Okay." Glenn says with a nod

"We're almost home. You good?" I ask

"I'm good." He replies.

Rick watches me carefully and nods. I turn to Glenn "Lets go"

I stand up and move out from behind the dumpster just for shots to fire and bullets to ricochet of the dumpster and I push Glenn back. I look up at the building to see a guy standing on top of the pharmacy.

A car pulls up and a guy shouts from the car "Let's get out of here Roamers all over the place! Hurry up! We gotta get out of here!"

"What about Sean?" Shouts the guy from the roof

"They shot him. We gotta go. Roamers are everywhere." The guy answers

"We're leaving?" The guy on the roof asks

"Jump! Hurry up, jump already." The other guy calls back

The guy jumps from the building to another then next all I hear is a scream and shouts for help.

"Dude didn't make it" Glenn whispers from next to me.

"I gotta go" the Guys 'friend' says "Sorry!"

"Get Hershel and Rick" I whisper then run over to where the guy landed.

The guy turns out to be a kid and his leg is impaled on a fence. Rick, Hershel and Glenn join me.

"Gwen we gotta go" Hershel says and pats the kids knee "I'm sorry, son, We have to go"

Rick grabs my arm and begins to drag me away when the kid yells "No no, don't leave me please."

"We have to go." Hershel says

"We can't." I say

"He was just shooting at us!" Glenn shouts at me

"He's just a kid." I shout back

"Please help me." The kid screams

"This place is crawling with walkers!" Glenn shouts

"We can't leave him!" Rick jumps to my defence.

"The fence went clean through. There's no way we can get the leg off in one piece." Hershel says and I'm aware of this.

"Shut up or I will shoot you!" Rick threatens the kid as the kid is screaming bloody murder.

"That may be the answer. We're not gonna get that leg off without tearing the muscle to shreds. He certainly can't run. He may bleed out." Hershel says

"Shut up." Says Glenn touching the kids impaled leg making him scream more "I'm sorry. Sh-sh... shut up. Shut up."

"Maybe we should put him down. I don't wanna see any more killing, but this is cruel." Hershel says

"Can't we just take the leg off?" Glenn asks

"That hatchet still in the car?" Rick asks

"No no, don't... don't... Don't cut my leg off, please. Please, not my leg." The kid begs.

Rick pulls out his knife and turns to me "Will this cut through the bone?"

"I'll have to sever the ligaments below the kneecap, cut above the tibia. He's going to lose his lower leg." I reply

"No, don't. No." The kids begs again

"When we get clear of here, we're gonna have to find some tinder, cauterize the wound so he doesn't bleed out." Hershel says looking at me, I nod in agreement.

"All right, no choice. Hurry up." Rick says, handing me his knife then holds the kid down

"Oh God, oh God." The kid cries.

Hershel ties his shirt around the kid's leg, just above the knee. Walkers start appearing everywhere and I give Hershel the knife to carry on while I cover him. There is no time for this! I shoot the walkers advancing on us but there are too many walkers and not enough ammo

"Come on, we gotta go! I'm almost out of ammo!" Rick yells

"We don't have much time! Come on, we've gotta go!" Glenn shouts

"Can't hold 'em off! Hershel, do it now! Come on, Hershel!" Rick screams

"There is no time!" Hershel shouts back

"Hershel, come on!" Rick shouts again.

Hershel steps away from the kid but I hover… I don't know if I can live with this. Rick grabs the kid's leg and rips it up. It is free from the fence but the kid screams bloody murder. I help Rick carry the kid to the car and get in the back beside him. Rick jumps in the drivers seat and Hershel in the passengers seat, Glenn beside me.

"Put this over his eyes!" Rick says to me, handing me a cloth then starting up the car and driving away

I wrap the cloth over the kid's eyes. I then work on his wound and try and stop the bleeding. There is so much blood. This kid might die.


	25. Wolf and Hunter

**Nessa's P.O.V**

I reach Daryl's tent and hit it, just like Gwen told me to do. The tent gets ripped open angrily and Daryl looks at me furiously "What?" He snaps.

I glare "Are you aware Gwen went with Rick and Glenn and they're not back yet?"

Daryl looks even more furious as he climbs out the tent "I thought she was with you!" He screams at me.

"Well I thought she was with you!" I scream back.

"Fuck!" He yells and grabs his crossbow before running up to the house.

I follow, hot on his heels. By the time we get to the house Shane is already back with Lori but she looks a mess, she's also trying to beat the shit out of Shane.

"I gotta make sure the baby's all right, okay?" Shane shouts at her

She freezes as does everyone else including Daryl. I look up at him and he's staring at Shane, not Lori. I look at Lori and she looks shocked.

"You're having a baby?" Carl asks "Why didn't you tell me?

Daryl walks up to Shane angrily as Lori is lead away to be checked out "Give me your keys"

Shane smirks at Daryl "Why would I do that?"

"So I can go after Gwen!" He shouts at Shane

"I will go after her!" Shane shouts back.

I look at them annoyed "Why don't you go together?" I suggest.

"Shut up!" They both yell at me.

I glare at them, no need for that God.

"She's not yours, she's my girl!" Daryl growls at him

Shane smirks "For now"

Daryl pushes him hard "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Shane shoves him back "I mean, she will soon realize you are just some red neck hick and come to me. I'm the only one here who can really protect her. Hell you didn't even know she was gone until a few minutes ago!"

Andy pushes between them, they both stop knowing fine well if they hurt Gwen's pride and joy she would kill them both "Enough, both of you! Imagine what Gwen would say if she saw how you two were behaving! Wait until morning then go after them! You won't see anything in the dark and someone's going to end up dead. It's what she would want, understand?"

Daryl nods backing away and moving to sit on the porch. The sun was already rising as the argument stopped. Longest night ever!


	26. Selfish

**Gwen's P.O.V**

The sun has completely risen when we drive into the farm and I'm covered in the kid's blood from saturating his wound. He passed out hours ago but not before he told us his name, Randall.

Rick pulls the car over and jumps out. Glenn climbs out and I follow him. I'm barely out of the car when a pair of arms wraps around me and my face collides with a hard chest.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Daryl growls at me.

"Daryl, I…" I start but he interrupts

"You could've gotten yoursel' killed!" He yells at me, pulling back to look at my face.

He looks down at my shirt and hands and his eyes widen "What the hell? Are you bleeding?"

I hear Lori say she was in a car accident and I turn to look at her, worried for the baby.

Daryl grips my face and forces me to look at him. He looks livid "Are you kidding me? For once Guinevere, be selfish and worry about yourself, instead of everyone else. Just once!"

I feel everyone's eyes on us and I look down at my blood soaked clothes embarrassed "It's not mine" I say then point to the truck "It's his"

"Who the hell is that?" T-Dog asks

"That's Randall" Rick says.

Everyone moves forward to look at our guest. Rick and Shane move him to the shed and Daryl pulls me into the house. He closes the door and kisses me… hard. I swear our teeth were going to crash together if he pressed any harder.

"I was so worried about you! Nobody told me you were gone until early this morning" He says

I look at him confused "How could you have not noticed? I wasn't in camp all day"

He looks away "I moved my tent to the other side of the field."

"You what? Why?" I ask.

"Can we talk about it later?" He asks as people start coming into the house.

I nod and move into the dining room. A meeting is held to discuss Randall.

Shane speaks first, obviously "Why the hell did you bring him here?"

I step forward "We couldn't just leave him behind. He would've bled out, if he lived that long." I state.

"It's gotten bad in town" Glenn says quietly.

"What do we do with him?" Andrea asks

Hershel walks in at that moment "I repaired his calf muscle as best I can, but he'll probably have nerve damage. Won't be on his feet for at least a week."

"When he is, we give him a canteen, take him out to the main road, send him on his way." Rick says

"Isn't that the same as leaving him for the walkers?" Andrea asks

"He'll have a fighting chance." Rick says

"Just gonna let him go? He knows where we are." Shane says

"He was blindfolded the whole way here and he passed out just after we left town" I argue

"He's not a threat" Rick says.

"Not a threat. How many of them were there? You killed three of their men, you took one of them hostage, but they just ain't gonna come looking?" Shane asks sarcastically

"They left him for dead. No one is looking!" Rick shouts.

"Besides, he's just a damn kid!" I say.

"Still, we should still post a guard." T-Dog says.

"He's out cold right now, will be for hours." Hershel says

"You know what? I'm gonna go get him some flowers and candy." Shane says sarcastically "look at this, folks... We back in fantasy land"

"Stop being such a dick, Shane, honestly!" I snap as he storms out the room

"You know, we haven't even dealt with what you did at my barn yet. Let me make this perfectly clear, once and for all... This is my farm. Now I wanted you gone. Rick talked me out of it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. So do us both a favor... Keep your mouth shut." Hershel yells at Shane and I smirk and look at Hershel with pride.

Shane sighs and storms out the house. Nessa and I share a quick grin which we both force off our faces quickly before anyone notices but someone did notice, Daryl, who is smirking at me triumphantly. Weird, but that's what's happening.

"We're not gonna do anything about it today. Let's just cool off." Rick says.

"I agree, lets all just take a day folks, yeah?" I say before heading over to Daryl.

Nessa tries to stop me to talk to me but I pull my hand away, she looks shocked "Sorry Ness, but I'm going to be selfish for the rest of today. I'll be with Daryl, only come to me if it's life or death"

Daryl smirks and grabs my hand and pulls me out the door quickly. He powers towards the camp and tries to lead me past it but I stop him momentarily and grab my bag out of my tent. I retake his hand and he keeps going until we are right out of the way of everything.

"You weren't kidding when you said you moved away" I say looking around.

He shrugs "I was pissed off that I wasn't able to find Sophia, being worried over a girl who wasn't even mine and was already dead"

I run my hand through his hair and smile "None of us knew that. You did an honourable thing and I couldn't be more proud of you. The effort you put into finding that little girl was the bravest and most selfless thing I have ever seen. I wish I was a good of a person as you are"

He looks at me with clouded eyes He drops his forehead onto mine and draws me into him "You make me want to be a good man."

I grin and pull him in to a passionate kiss. My bag falls off my shoulder and bursts open on the floor, the contents spill. I pull away and look down at the scattered photos and drop to my knees, panicked and grab them before they can fly away. One almost does but Daryl stops it with his foot and picks it up and looks at it.

"Who are they?" He asks

I stand with the photos in my hand and look at it. There are 9 people in the photo all sitting on or around and in one case, on top of a four seater leather couch.

"This is a family photo that was taken on my Niece's birthday the August before I came to America" I point to each person from left to right, starting at the people behind the couch , I point to a middle-aged woman with a white bob and piercing blue eyes "That's my mum" Then to the tall black haired and tanned skinned man "That's my dad" Then to the short, blonde 30 something woman who has her hand over her equally blonde sons back who is lying on his stomach across the length of top of the couch "That's my eldest sister Emma, she's Andy's mother" I then move to the seats, I start with the third and last man with brown hair and eyes like mine "That's my brother, Cameron" I move to the blonde, tanned skinned 20 something woman "Nessa" I point to the little blonde haired girl next to her "That's my niece Paisley, she's 12, Emma's daughter"

I notice Daryl's forehead creases when I point to the blonde 12 year old, same as Sophia. I continue quickly.

I point to myself, my hair is curled loosely and neat around over my shoulders, I have make up on… I almost forgot what I looked like with make up on. The red lip and the black hair contrasts nicely with my pale skin.

"Me" I have a toddler on my lap who looks identical to me but with shorter, curlier hair but with my eyes and my skin tone and my hair colour. I hesitate before finally pointing to her "That's Ava, my youngest Niece, she's Emma's youngest daughter"

Daryl looks at the baby in shock then to me then to her "She's your double"

"I know, she used to get mistaken for mine a lot. It used to piss my sister off something awful" I say with a smile

"Is this what your kids will look like?" He mutters.

"If they are lucky" I say with a teasing grin as I fold the photo and put it in my pocket

"Did you know?" He asks.

"What?"

"About Lori being pregnant?"

I nod "Yeah, I've known for a while"

"Shane?" He asks.

I look at him shocked, oh great so he noticed and I didn't. "Maybe but she doesn't care, It's Ricks"

He nods and holds his hand out for the other photos. I hand them over. He climbs into his tent and I follow. I put my bag in the corner and sit next to him on his cot as he flicks through the photos. They're all similar, me with someone, or multiple people, some with family, some with friends, all of them from my university days. There is one that is a portrait my mum took of me when she decided she was an amateur photographer, to be fair she was good. The photo only shows my shoulders and head. My black hair sits in its natural curly state but neat, my makeup light and natural. I like this one, I look good in it.

Daryl hands me them back except that one "Can I keep it?" He asks

I laugh "Why? When the real thing is right here"

"Please?" He asks.

I don't know what surprises me more, the sentimentality in Daryl's face or the fact he said please. I put the photos back into my bag.

"Yeah, you can keep it" I say.

He smiles and puts it in his pocket.


	27. Tradition

I spent the rest of the day with Daryl and I tell him what happened in town. He tells me what happened between him and Shane.

"He's obsessed with you but he was more concerned about Lori's baby than your safety. I think he wants you and the baby" Daryl says and buries his face into my hair.

I feel my stomach drop "I thought of that too and I think Lori suspects that. She's scared and I think she's going to tell Rick"

Daryl nods, his face moves my hair. I pull away from him and stand up "let's move your tent back to camp, for safety" I say

He hesitates but nods all the same. We spend the next hour packing up his stuff and moving the tent back to the camp and ignoring the looks of relief as we set it back up. I put my bag back in and crawl in. I spend the night with Daryl again.

The next morning I wake up a little later than everyone else. I hear voices and I feel someone playing with my hair. I open my eyes and blink at the light before my vision clears and Daryl's face comes into focus. He lets go of my hair and moves away from me. He's already dressed and he is kneeling on the floor instead of being in the cot.

I sit up and stretch but keep the blanket around my bare chest. "Mornin'" I mutter.

He smirks "Mornin' you're cute when you wake up"

I laugh and slide out of the cot and open my bag and pull out fresh clothes. Daryl watches me carefully as I dress in jeans and a vest top, and follows me as I climb out. Everyone, apart from Andrea, who is on Randall watch, is sitting around the fire eating. I'm tackled by Nessa as I walk up to them and her face buries into my chest.

People watch amused as Nessa stays attached to me with her face in my boobs. I sigh and walk over to the fire and lower Nessa back into her seat and peel her off me.

"Why do you always do that?" I ask her.

"What?" she pouts.

I drop down next to her and lean against Daryl's leg who had sat on my camp chair that is set up next to Nessa's… it used to be on the opposite side of the fire.

"Why do you motorboat me when you miss me" I ask with a smirk.

She smirks back and pokes at the fleshy curve of one of my breasts that are pressing against my vest top due to the tightness of it in the chest area, my bra doesn't help with the tightness but it's necessary. "They're like big, comfy pillows. I have to remind myself they're real"

I laugh and swat her hand away "Stop it!"

She fights with me and keeps poking at them. We end up on the floor fighting and laughing, something we haven't done since this all happened. The group laughs as we carry on. Like always, I manage to get her pinned for our usual 5 second rule then we pull away. I collapse back into Daryl's legs, exhausted and Nessa struggles onto her seat.

"I never win!" Nessa complains childishly.

I laugh "That's cause your weak!"

She huffs "I ain't weak, you're freakishly strong"

I shake my head "I'm really not besides in your words: Siblings are there for character building! It's my duty to kick your ass now and then, it keeps you on your toes!" I say with a laugh

"Gee thanks" She says.

Andy laughs "Siblings are for character building huh?"

I nod and he turns to the group "I'll tell you that story now"

"What story?" Rick asks with a smirk

"The one when my mum put Gwen in intensive care" Andy says

Nessa glares at him "That's not a funny story!"

I smirk "It is"

Her head turns to me angrily "Are you crazy? You nearly died"

"But I didn't so it's fine" I reply.

"Come on, son, tell us" Dale says

"Well no one, apart from my mum, really knows what happened that night and we all suspect she never told the whole story. It was not long After Gwen's 19th"

"20th" I interrupt.

Andy nods "Right, 20th, anyway, I was at my dads with my sister and Gwen went up to spend the night with my mum. From what we understand they both got really drunk and decided it would be fun to go into the city, so they called their cousin"

I interrupt "We think, we think we called Sandy, it may have been your mother's dumbass, at the time, boyfriend"

Andy continues "Right, whatever, anyway they went to the city and did a pub crawl, already smashed, keeping in mind at this point my mum is 32 and Gwen's 20."

"That's quite an age gap" Lori says.

"6 between me and Ness, 12 between me and Emma and 14 between me and my brother, Cameron" I tell them

Andy looks at me annoyed "Anyway, Gwen was really unsteady so my mum she took her outside. When they got there Gwen collapsed and my mum phoned an ambulance but by the time they got there Gwen was awake and they were about to leave when Gwen passed out again. They took her to the hospital and took her temperature and it was through the roof, her blood was literally boiling her to death. So they did this thing called an artic sun where they wrap you in a freezing cold thing. Luckily her temperature dropped but so did her blood pressure, long story short, Gwen ended up in intensive care all wired up to machines and tubes."

"Not the most comfortable thing in the world" I joke.

"Then Emma lied about it!" Nessa burst "Telling mum that Gwen was at home with me sleeping it off when she was really in hospital, dying!"

I sigh "Nessa, that was five years ago, you need to get over it"

She gawks at me "I still can't believe you forgave her."

I shrug "Dude, we're from Glenrothes, Alcohol poisoning is as normal as a cold. Something you know very well. It was an accident and mostly my fault, I should've known when to say no"

"Well she has 12 years on you, she should have cut you off" Nessa seethed.

I shrug "Yeah well now its something we could look back on and say 'Hey, Emma, remember the time you almost killed me, good times'"

The group laughs

Nessa shakes her head "Our family is fucked up!"

Me and Andy grin at each other "Yeah, we are" then I lean over and we high five each other.

I fall back against Daryl laughing.

Nessa grumbles and hands me a plate "Here, eat, freak"

"Bitch" I reply

"Slut" She says with a smirk

"Jerk" I finish and we laugh a little.

Shane speaks up "You two insult each other often?"

I sigh "It's a sign of love to insult your family"

Nessa laughs "She's called me worse"

Shane smirks "Is this another one of those character building things?"

"Exactly" I reply "When I was a kid, Nessa told me that calling each other names in a positive way is a good thing because when you go to the likes of High school, whatever anyone says to you won't faze you. I remember being bullied constantly at school and turning around saying 'Is that the best you can come up with?' didn't bother me in the slightest."

Lori looks surprised "Huh… that's not a bad idea"

Nessa grins and nod "I know right, I'm full of good ideas, that was the rules in our home"

I laugh "Yeah and if I ever had kids that would be the rules there too"

I realized what I said and my smile drops from my face, Lori didn't seem to notice what I said until she saw my smile drop and both of ours eyes flick to Shane who is giving me a very dark smile. My eyes flick to Rick who is looking at his best friend in a painful realization, then to me in worry.

Daryl's hands grab me under the armpits and he lifts me up onto his knee, I let out a noise of surprise and a swear word as he does. I end up sitting side ways on his lap, my back leaning against the arm he has around my waist and his other hand is on my knee. He sits there, straight faced, like this was common practice between us. I don't move or struggle or anything and his eyes flick to Shane and a small smirk tugs at the corner of his mouth. Shane glares and gets up and moves away.

I sigh and kiss Daryl's forehead before exchanging a worried look with Rick and Lori.

The rest of the week went quite smoothly. No one was to go near Randall apart from Rick, Shane, Daryl and I. Even then it was a fucking fight for me to be able to do it. I pleaded the, 'I need to make sure his leg is healing properly, bone is kind of my thing.'

After the week had past, Rick and Shane bundle Randall into a car and drive him out. I insisted on going with them but Daryl protested saying I was not to go anywhere without him again. I huffed and watched the boys drive out, wishing I was there to protect Rick.


	28. Protect

**Rick's P.O.V**

I drive out of the farm and down the road. I'm planning to drive 18 miles out to leave the kid. First of all, I need to talk to Shane about Lori, MY baby... and Gwen. Lori told me how she was worried that Shane had plans that involved the baby and Gwen and no one else. If that is true, he needs me, Lori and Daryl out of the picture and I only know of one way he will get any of us away from the baby and Gwen. I've grown to love Gwen, she's family and I know Lori has too, and Carl. I have noticed how Shane acts around Gwen, I didn't think anything of it at first and was surprised when it turned out Gwen was with Daryl and not Shane and I knew about Shane and Lori. He used my wife to relieve his frustrations over Gwen and that's not fair on Lori or Gwen. It pissed me off, I wanted to kill him but he is my brother… I could never kill Shane… I think.

I pull over and climb out of the car, Shane follows looking confused "I thought we were going further."

"We are. 18 miles out." I tell him

"So why are we stopping?" Shane asks

I turn on him, choosing my words carefully "I wanted to talk. Been waiting a week till we were gonna do this. I just wanna talk."

Shane knows what it's about "We don't need to."

"We do." I tell him

"No man, we don't." He states "We're doing this. I get it. He was passed out when y'all brought him back, doesn't know where the farm is."

He knows fine well what I mean "That isn't what I need to talk to you about. I heard what really happened at the school. Was it to survive?" I ask, I need to know what Lori said is true. If this fact is I can only assume everything she said is

"Yeah. One of us wasn't gonna make it out. It had to be him. One shot to the leg, Carl lives. Reality is... He had no business being here- There. Whatever." Shane says

A stone drops in my gut, damn it brother "You don't think I would've done it?" I ask

"No, man, I know you wouldn't have."

I ask the question "You don't think I can keep Lori or Carl safe?"

"I didn't say that." Shane defends

Or my baby? Or Gwen? Is it gonna have to be me too?" I ask him and watch his reaction

He holds himself steady, I'm not surprised "Rick, you can't just be the good guy and expect to live. Okay? Not anymore." He tells me

"I'm not the good guy anymore. To save Carl's life, I would've done anything- anything." I snarl at him and take a breath "Now Lori says you're dangerous, but you're not gonna be dangerous. Not to us, not to me, not to Gwen, not anymore."

Shane looks away from me "How about you look at me?" I say to him and he does "You and Lori- I get what happened. When I figured it out- and I figured it out pretty quickly- I wanted to break your jaw, let you choke on your teeth. But I didn't. That wasn't weakness. It took everything. That is my wife. That is my son. That is my unborn child. I will stay alive to keep them alive."

He looks annoyed by what I'm saying and I bring forward my next topic "Gwen loves Daryl and I have a feeling she always did. You are attracted to her, hell I think everyone is, including me, but I know you Shane. You tried to get her and she refused and fell for someone else so you got desperate for her because she belongs to someone else and you used my wife to relieve your frustrations. I'm not saying you don't love Gwen, you probably do, it's not hard to love Gwen, but she does not love you and you need to accept that" I tell him bluntly.

He looks at me angrily but I continue anyway "Now the only way you and me keep on... Is that you accept everything I just said right here, right now, and we move forward with that understanding."

I turn and walk away from him. He starts speaking which makes me stop to look at him

"When it started it was just- It was a couple of weird stories on the news. Then- then it was so quick. Everything- It just happened. Two weeks later, I'm in the hospital and there were soldiers shooting people in the halls. They were shooting people, man, not walkers. Then the walkers came through. You know, I tried to get you out, I tried, but we weren't gonna make it. Man, there was no way and I knew it. But I couldn't live with it. I couldn't live, knowing- But I had to. I didn't keep Lori and Carl alive, man. They kept me alive. I want you to know that I didn't look at her before that. Brother, if I could take it all back, I would."

I'm sure he means that, if he got Gwen like he wanted he never would have looked at Lori but I do not blame Gwen. This was all on Shane, most people who are trying to get a girl don't sleep with their best friend's wife.

He talks slowly now "As for Gwen, I do love her, man, I love her with everything I got and yeah I did turn to Lori when I was turned down by Gwen but I do not want Lori, man. I won't stop loving Gwen, I know she's with Daryl and I won't hurt her. I can't turn off my feelings but I won't force them on her"

I can't bring myself to believe him, I want to so bad, but I can't "I wanna check the ropes." I say then walk toward the car.

I will protect my baby and I will protect Gwen. He will not have either of them. He'll have to kill me first and he knows that.


	29. Sisters

**Gwen's P.O.V**

I don't know what to do with myself again so I just help Nessa and Carol with washing clothes then hang them up to dry. After that, I'm still denied cooking duty. Now they all don't trust me around a fire. It's a little depressing. I sit down next to Daryl as he cleans his crossbow for the millionth time. I roll my eyes at him. I'm sure he loves that thing more than me. I get on all fours and crawl under his arms and sit in between his legs. He looks down at me and laughs.

"What are you doin'?" He asks

"That crossbow gets more attention from you than I do" I pout and bury into his chest.

He chuckles and places down his crossbow and wraps his strong, muscular arms around my shoulders "You're jealous of a weapon?"

"I'll be jealous of anything or anyone who takes your attention from me" I look up at him and grin "Be prepared. I'm not sure you realise what you're getting yourself into"

He kisses me gently "Don' care. You're mine"

I look up as Lori comes running from the house and calls for Andrea. She says something to her then rushes to me "Gwen, could you come with me, please?" She asks desperately.

I look at Daryl quickly and he nods. I get up and run after Lori to the house. She rushes through the door and stops "Beth wants to kill herself" She tells me.

My eyes widen "What?"

"She took the steak knife off her plate and hid it from me. When I went back to her room she had it in her hand and was hiding it under the covers" Lori says.

"Fuck! What is she thinking? Does Hershel or Maggie know?" I ask her.

She shakes her head "No, I asked Andrea to get Maggie"

I nod my head "Okay, we should go up and watch her until one of them gets back, we can't leave her alone"

Lori nods and follows me as I rush up the stairs. I slide into the room quietly and Beth looks up at me, clearly upset but says nothing.

I smile at her and sit next her but I don't look at her "It doesn't go away, the pain of a loss, but the pain does dull and the day will come when you think about the people you lost and instead of crying, you will smile at the good memories you shared with them." I look down at her then and she's staring at me intently and I continue "It gets better, I promise"

I hear the front door open and Lori looks at me, I nod at her and she heads downstairs. I then hear Maggie yell something followed by hammering footsteps on the stair. I stand quickly and vacate the room as Maggie enters it and I close the door behind her.

I move down into the kitchen with Lori and Andrea and as I enter it all I hear is screaming from upstairs. I let out a breath and sit on the table. "I do not miss that sound" I mutter.

The women just nod. "Where's Hershel?" Andrea asks

"He doesn't want to find out yet. It's a family affair. We'll let them work it out." Lori says

"That's working it out?" Andrea asks

"When Beth stops fighting, that's when it's time to worry." I tell her.

"This could've been handled better." Andrea says

"How so?" Lori asks

"You shouldn't have taken the knife away" Andrea says simply. I look at her appalled, is she nuts!

"Excuse me?" Lori says with a similar look to mine

"You were wrong, like Dale taking my gun. That wasn't your decision." Andrea says "She has to choose to live on her own. She has to find her own reasons."

I scoff and shake my head "Have you lost it? She's 16 years old!"

"If she's serious, she'll figure out a way." Andrea says looking cool as a cucumber.

"Doesn't mean I can't stop her or let her know that I care." Lori says acting cool.

"That has nothing to do with it, Lori. She only has so many choices in front of her, and she believes the best one is suicide." Andrea says with a shrug

"That's not an option." Lori says

"Of course it is. She doesn't need to be yelled at or treated like a child." Andrea says

"She needs a loaded gun, right?" I throws back. "You'll understand if I don't send you in there."

"I came through it." Andrea protests

"And became such a productive member of the group. Let Maggie handle this her way." Lori says.

"I contribute. I help keep this place safe." Andrea states

I scoff, this bitch is really pissing me off "You shot my boyfriend in the head, great work" I say sarcastically

"The men and Gwen can handle this on their own. They don't need your help." Lori says.

"I'm sorry. What would you have me do?" Andrea asks us

"Oh, there's plenty of work to go around." Lori says

"Are you serious? Everything falls apart, you're in my face over skipping laundry?" Andrea argues

"Puts a burden on the rest of us, on me, Nessa and Carol, and Patricia and Maggie. Cooking, cleaning and caring for Beth. And you- you don't care about anyone but yourself- You sit up on that RV, working on your tan with a shotgun in your lap." Lori snaps at her

"No, I am on watch against walkers." Andrea growls "That is what matters, not fresh mint leaves in the lemonade"

"If I remember correctly, that's Dale's job not yours" I tell her.

"What the hell, Gwen? What's your job description" Andrea asks, knowing fine well the answer.

"I lead this group!" I snarl at her, getting in her face "I was doing that job well before you decided you wanted to be trigger happy. You didn't have a problem with it then when you were asking me how to set up your tent!"

Lori takes my arm and pulls me back into her slightly and says "And we are providing stability. We are trying to create a life worth living."

"Are you kidding me?" Andrea asks

"Look, I went after Rick. I took down two walkers." Lori says

"After crashing Maggie's car. Don't act like you're the only one who can take care of herself. - Ever apologize for that?" Andrea throws in Lori's face.

"Crashing her- You're insane." Lori snaps

"No, you are. And you're the one that's self-centered, the way you take it all for granted." Andrea snaps.

"My husband is out there for the hundredth time. My son was shot. Don't you dare tell me I take this for granted!" Lori yells at her.

"You don't get it, do you? Your husband came back from the dead, your son too. And now you've got a baby on the way. The rest of us have piled up our losses- Me, Carol, Beth, hell Gwen, Andy and Nessa don't even know where their family is and will never know, but you just keep on keeping on." Andrea shouts in her face

"Each and every one of us has suffered!" I shout at her

Andrea ignores me and continues to drill into Lori "Playing house, acting like the queen bee, laying down rules for everybody but yourself. You know what? Go ahead. Go in there and tell that little girl that everything's gonna be okay, just like it is for you. She'll get a husband, a son, baby… boyfriend. She just has to look on the bright side."

I loose it "Who the fuck do you think you are? How dare you. You have almost killed people in this group because of your selfishness. Dale, fair enough he shouldn't have done what he did, but your blind arrogance nearly killed my boyfriend!" I calm down when Lori puts her hand on my shoulder "I forgave you for that, Andrea, don't make me regret giving you the benefit of the doubt. It won't happen again"

She steps away from me looking scared then runs off. I turn to Lori felling pissed. Lori takes my shoulders in her hands.

"I appreciate you standing up for me like that." She says pulling me into a hug.

I grin and hug her back "What are sisters for right?" I say as I pull away and give her a wink.

She grins at me "Yeah"

I help Lori with some cleaning up when I hear a banging coming from upstairs. Lori and I look at each other confused and head upstairs. I hear Maggie banging on a door and shouting Beth's name. Lori is right behind me as we burst through the door.

"What is it?" I ask

"She's in there. I heard glass." Maggie says, panicked.

"Beth, you all right?" Lori asks through the door

"Don't do this, Beth. Don't do this. Open up, please." Maggie pleads then starts searching through Beth's things "God, I left her with Andrea."

Lori and I exchange looks "Where's a key?" Lori asks

"I don't know." Maggie says before moving back to the door "Beth honey, please open the door. I'm not mad. I'm not mad, Beth."

"Maggie, Lori move" I tell them. They move back.

I step back and brace my shoulder and throw myself into the door. It rattles. I do it again, I hear something splinter. One more time and the door breaks open and I fall forward but catch myself.

Beth turns to me and uncovers her wrist that is covered in blood, the mirror behind her broken. "I'm sorry" She cries.

Maggie moves past me to her sister and leads her back into her bedroom. Lori turns to me in surprise "I didn't know you could do that!"

"Well it's not the first door I've had to kick down" I say with a grin. I move the shoulder and wince "It hurts like a bitch though"

Hershel come in and goes crazy before stitching Beth's wrist. "Where's Andrea?" Maggie seethes.

"I would like to know that myself?" I say

I follow Maggie outside and Andrea comes running across the yard "Where were you?" Maggie asks dangerously

"I heard. Is she all right?" Andrea asks

"She would be if you had stayed with her. Where were you?" Maggie asks again

"How bad is she?" Andrea asks

"It wasn't deep." Lori says

"She wants to live. She made her decision." Andrea says looking happy.

"She tried to kill herself." Maggie yells

"No, she didn't." Andrea replies

"My father is stitching her wrist right now. Gwen has probably fractured her shoulder when she broke the door down!" Maggie says

"She'll live." Andrea says trying to walk past Maggie into the house.

Maggie stops her "Stay away from her. From both of us. Don't you dare step foot inside this house again"

Andrea looks at me and Lori for help, well she ain't getting it, Maggie's right, I think I have fractured my scapula because of that Bitch.

Lori speaks first "I'm not gonna say she was right, but Beth has made her choice. She wants to live and now she knows it... And sometimes you have to cross the line."

Maggie doesn't look convinced as she walks back into the house. I'm not either. Lori turns to me concerned "Let me see your shoulder."

I turn and she makes a noise "Oh my God, I'll get Hershel"

I try to look at it "What?"

She runs in and two minutes later Hershel is downstairs looking baffled "Let me see"

I turn for him "You have wood splinters embedded in your shoulder blade and it appears you may have a break too by the look of that bruise, come sit down"

"I'll get Daryl!" Lori says and runs off.

I straddle a chair backwards and cross my arms in front of me, over the chairs back. Hershel starts pulling splinter out of my back with tweezers and I wince with every pull. Daryl comes in moments later looking panicked.

He sees me and the look softens "You didn' even leave the farm and you get all banged up" He says and kneels down in front of me.

I wince again as another splinter is pulled out "What can I say, I'm accident prone"

"You're going to have to wear a sling for a few days until the swelling goes down, don't move this arm to much and don't sleep on your back" Hershel says.

"Yes, sir" I say with a sigh.

He places his hand on my other shoulder as Patricia ties me into a sling "Thank you for what you did"

I smile and nod "No problem, you save me, I save your daughter, sounds fair"

He smiles "You have done so much more that that"

He walks away with Patricia leaving me and Daryl alone. Daryl is glaring at me "What did you do now?"

I move to shrug but instantly regret it as pain shoots through my shoulder "I broke down a door, we thought Beth was trying to kill herself, she was crying and glass broke so I battered the door down with my shoulder"

He looks pissed "How do you even know how to do that?"

"There's a lot of things I know how to do." I tell him.

He doesn't look impressed "I thought you were done doing everything for everyone"

I sigh "Daryl, I tried to stop a 16 year old girl committing suicide, I didn't put my life in danger"

He sighs, looking frustrated "Whatever"

I grab him with my good arm and pull his lips to mine "Don't: whatever, me"

He clenches his jaw then relaxes. I hear a car "They're back" I state walking towards the door.

I walk out and Rick and Shane climb out the car looking beat to shit. I rush up "What the hell happened to you guys?" I ask, shocked

Rick looks at the sling "What happened to you?"

"I broke down a door, it's a long story" I tell him.

He steps forward and semi turns me to look at my shoulder "Is it broken?" He asks concerned

"Maybe, its probably a small fracture I would be in a lot more pain if it was anything more than that"

I look past him to Shane who is opening the boot of the car and is pulling Randall out "I thought you were letting him go?" I ask, confused.

"Change of plans, I'm going to have to think things over tonight." He says.

"What things?" I ask

"Wither or not to kill him" Rick replies.

My eyes widen "Surely not!"

"It might be for the good of the group, he could find his way back here, he said he knew Maggie in school, so he could know where she lives" Rick says.

I don't like it but he's right "point taken"


	30. Torture and Pressure

The night past and Rick and I discussed it. We need to find out what his group is like, how big it is and what kind of people we are dealing with. I volunteered to talk to him but Shane said we need a different approach, torture. I am completely against it. Rick tries to make me see that it's the only way to get the truth. Daryl volunteers to do it. I refuse that motion too, but it was three against one. I allow it under one circumstance. I need to be there to make sure it doesn't go too far. They agreed, hesitantly.

I walk into the shed with Daryl, sick to the stomach at what's going to happen, I can't even look at Randall but he looks at me expectantly as I walk in first. Then Daryl follows and the hopeful glint in his eye disappears.

I grab Daryl's arm "You don't have to do this" I whisper.

He strokes my hair "Yes I do, we need to know because I need you safe"

I let go of him. I ask Randall "Where's your group? How many are in your group?"

Randall looks terrified "I don't know"

Daryl punches him in the face. I flinch and look away briefly. Daryl punches him, hard a good three times and Randall spits blood and sobs on the ground.

"I told you!" Randall shouts

"You told us shit!" Daryl spits and lifts Randall back into a seated position

"I barely knew those guys. I met 'em on the road." Randal says, his breathing fast his eyes wide in terror.

"How many in your group?" Daryl asks and pulls out his knife

"Uh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Come on, man." Randal pleads

"How many?!" Daryl shouts stabbing the floor next to Randall

"Uh, 30- 30. 30 guys." Randal stutters. Shit that's a lot of people!

"Where?" Daryl asks slicing Randall's leg

Randall screams in pain "Uh... I don't know. I swear. We were never any place more than a night."

"Scouting? Planning on staying local?" Daryl asks, pressing the knife into the cut.

"I- I don't know. They- they left me behind." Randall shouts

"Did you ever pick off a scab?" Daryl asks

"Come on, man! I'm-I'm trying to cooperate." Randall pleads

"Start real slow at first." Daryl says

"No." Randall begs

"Sooner or later, you've just gotta rip it off." Daryl says even more threateningly

"Okay. Okay." Randall shouts "They have weapons- Heavy stuff, automatics. But I didn't do anything."

Daryl presses the knife in "Your boys shot at my boys, at my woman!" At that he presses the knife in a little deeper than he probably meant too "Tried to take this farm. You just went along for the ride? You're trying to tell me you're innocent?"

"Yes!" Randall screams. "These- these people took me in. Not just guys- A whole group of 'em. Men and women, kids too- Just like you people. Thought I'd have a better chance with them, you know? But... We go out, scavenge- Just the men."

Daryl stands and Randall calms down and looks straight at me "One night, we- we found this little campsite. A man and his two daughters- Teenagers, you know? Real young. Real cute."

There was a pause and I feel sick, oh my God, that's the kind of people he's with! Daryl looks at me as Randall continues "Their daddy had to watch while these guys- they- And they didn't even kill him afterwards. They just- They just made him watch as his daughters- They just-just- just left him there."

I have to cover my mouth to stop myself throwing up. He must have realised what he said because he looks more alert "No, but-but- but I didn't touch those girls. No, I swear I didn't to—"

Daryl cuts him off by kicking him in the gut. Randall doubles over with a cry of pain.

"Please. You gotta believe me, man. I'm not like that. I ain't like that. Please. Please, you gotta believe me." Daryl hits him again

Randall looks at me pleadingly "You, your names Gwen right? I've heard them say your name. The real pretty one! You pleaded for my life! You tried to save me, please!"

I feel even more nauseous, that's right I did. Daryl punches him even harder "Don't talk to her, don't even look at her!"

I stand up and grab Daryl's arm. "That's enough. We got what we need, for now"

He backs away with a nod as we leave the barn and over to the camp. Daryl addresses them "Boy there's got a gang, 30 men. They have heavy artillery and they ain't looking to make friends. They roll through here, our boys are dead. And our women, they're gonna- They're gonna wish they were."

"What did you do?" Carol asks looking at Daryl's busted knuckles

"Had a little chat." Daryl says.

That's all it took, after all I've seen and heard, the fact I let Daryl do that pushed it over the edge. I turn from the group and only manage to get a few steps when I fall to my knees and throw up. Daryl drops to my side and holds my hair.

Lori drops to the other side and I hear Carol say "I'll get her some water"

I stop and wipe my mouth with my free hand and sit up straight. "Honey, you okay?" Lori asks.

Feeling embarrassed I nod "I'm fine" I take the water Carol hands to me gratefully and down it.

Daryl lifts me to my feet carefully as not to hurt me by moving my arm or touching my shoulder blade.

"No one goes near this guy." Rick calls.

Lori walks up to him "Rick, what are you gonna do?"

"We have no choice. He's a threat. We have to eliminate the threat." He tells us

"You're just gonna kill him?" Dale asks

"It's settled. I'll do it today." Rick says and walks away.

Everyone looks at me to protest or agree, final decision please Gwen. I walk away, I want to be alone. After I'm out of their line of sight, I run. I don't stop until I find a decent tree to climb. I rip the sling off and ignore the dull pain as I climb. I used to do this as a kid when I was upset, I would climb a tree, Andy and Nessa both know this so if they see me, they won't bother me and hopefully advise everyone to do the same.


	31. Discussion

**Nessa's P.O.V**

I look around for Gwen. She wouldn't be stupid enough to go too far. It took me most of the day but I find her, sitting up a tree. I sigh and walk away back to camp.

"Did you find her?" Andy asks

"Yeah, she's sitting in a tree" I tell him

He sighs "Great"

"So what if she's in a tree?" Daryl says coming back from his tent, his and Gwen's tent.

"Gwen has done this thing since she was a kid. When she was upset or angry she would run into the woods and climb a tree and stay there for hours on end, she wouldn't look at anyone, or talk to them, or even acknowledge their existence. If you tried to climb it and bring her down she would flip out. I suggest everyone leaves her till she comes back." I tell them

Andy scoffs "just send Randall up there, Gwen will do the damn job herself"

I hit him "don't say that!"

Daryl brushes past me and walks towards Gwen "Daryl, seriously, I wouldn't!"

He ignores me "Don't take anything she says to heart!" I call after him.

 **Gwen's P.O.V**

"Gwen!" Daryl's voice calls up to me.

I ignore him, like I do everybody "Gwen! Come on, girl, come down from there"

I continue to ignore him and look straight ahead. "Guinevere! I will come up there"

He'd better not. I will not be help responsible for my actions.

"Damn it, girl!" I hear him grunt and I look down at him climbing the tree.

I sigh in frustration and continue climbing. He grunts "Fuck, Gwen!"

I ignore him and climb till I literally can't anymore. Trees are a stupid hideaway! I press myself into the bark as Daryl reaches the branch I'm in and glares at me. I glare back.

"I'm trying to be selfish Daryl, isn't that what you always tell me to be" I growl at him.

"Don't close yourself off to me" He says.

I scoff "Says you" I didn't mean that

"Guinevere, your shoulder is still hurt, what are you thinking, climbing this damn thing!" He snaps at me.

I smile "I don't care anymore, Daryl. Look at us, what are we doing, to a kid"

"You heard what he said, what his people do. They're the ones that aren't human" He says.

"I know, I know we can't let him go, yet I want too." I start crying "My job, before all this, was striving to get justice for those who were murdered in cold blood and here I am, indorsing it, helping to do it."

"That was the old world, in this world we have to look after our own. You're all I care about, you're the only damn reason I'm even still here 'cause your right, I'm better off on my own but you won't go anywhere without your nephew and Nessa, and I'm not going anywhere without you" Daryl says.

I look at him and take a deep breath "Can you help me down?"

He smirks "Yeah"

It takes a long time to get me down from the tree but we got there. We head back to the house, sling forgotten; I don't need it or want it. When I arrive back at the house I nod for Daryl to go ahead as I walk up to Lori and Rick.

"If everyone says yes, I'll do it" I say.

"Honey, no!" Lori says.

"She's right Gwen, I won't let you do that" Rick says.

"Why does it have to be you Rick? It doesn't have to be" I say then turn and walk back into the house.

They come in not long later and I walk over to Daryl and stand with my back against his torso and his arms wrapped around my waist. Rick looks at us. I see Carl out the corner of my eye and look at him suspiciously, I'm sure you're not meant to be here. My suspicions are confirmed when both Lori and Rick give him a look and he runs off.

"So how do we do this? Just take a vote?" Glenn asks

"Does it have to be unanimous? How about majority rules?" Andrea says

"Well, let's- let's just see where everybody stands, then we can talk through the options." Rick says.

"Well, where I sit, there's only one way to move forward." Shane says

"Killing him!" Dale snaps. "I mean, why even bother to even take a vote? It's clear which way the wind's blowing."

"Well, if people believe we should spare him, I wanna know." Rick says

"Well, I can tell you it's a small group- Maybe just me and Glenn and maybe Gwen" He looks at me hopefully.

"Look, I- I think you're pretty much right about everything, all the time, but this-" Glenn says

"They've got you scared." Dale argues

"He's not one of us!" Glenn says. "And we've- we've lost too many people already."

"Guinevere?" Dale looks at me pleadingly.

Daryl's grip tightens slightly. I sigh "I don't like it, but it's not about wither I like it or not. I need to think about what's best for the group and safety is the most important thing. We can't risk him finding his group and leading them here…we just can't"

Dale looks desperate and turns on Maggie "How about you? Do you agree with this?"

Couldn't we continue keeping him prisoner?" Maggie asks

"Just another mouth to feed." Daryl says

"It may be a lean winter." Hershel says

"We could ration better." Lori says

"Well, he could be an asset. Give him a chance to prove himself." Dale says

"Put him to work?" Glenn offers

"We're not letting him walk around." Rick says

"We could put an escort on him." Maggie says

"Who wants to volunteer for that duty?" Shane ask sarcastically

Dale answers "I will."

"I don't think any of us should be walking around with this guy." Rick states

"He's right. I wouldn't feel safe unless he was tied up." Lori says

"We can't exactly put chains around his ankles, sentence him to hard labor." Andrea says.

"Look, say we let him join us, right? Maybe he's helpful, maybe he's nice. We let our guard down and maybe he runs off, brings back his 30 men." Shane says

"So the answer is to kill him to prevent a crime that he may never even attempt? If we do this, we're saying there's no hope. Rule of law is dead. There is no civilization." Dale says.

"Oh, my God." Shane says frustrated

"Could you drive him further out? Leave him like you planned?" Hershel asks

"You barely came back this time. There are walkers. You could break down. Y-you could get lost." Lori says

"Or get ambushed." Daryl says

"They're right. We should not put our own people at risk. Not again" I say

"If you go through with it, how would you do it? Would he suffer?" Patricia asks

"We could hang him, right? Just snap his neck." Shane offers

"I thought about that. Shooting may be more humane." Rick says

"And what about the body? Do we bury him?" T-Dog asks

"Hold on, hold on!" Dale shouts "You're talking about this like it's already decided."

"You've been talking all day, going around in circles. You just wanna go around in circles again?" Daryl asks

"This is a young man's life, and it is worth more than a five-minute conversation! Is this what it's come to? We kill someone because we can't decide what else to do with him? You saved him and now look at us. He's been tortured. He's gonna be executed. How are we any better than those people that we're so afraid of?" Dale argues passionately as ever

"We all know what needs to be done." Shane says

"No, Dale is right. We can't leave any stone unturned here. We have a responsibility-" I start but Andrea cuts me off

"So what's the other solution?"

"Let Gwen finish." Lori says

Andrea ignores her "We haven't come up with a single viable option yet. I wish we could."

"So let's work on it!" Dale yells

"We are." Shane snaps

Carol speaks up "Stop it. Just stop it. I'm sick of everybody arguing and fighting. I didn't ask for this. You can't ask us to decide something like this. Please decide-Any of you, all of you- But leave me out."

"Not speaking out or killing him yourself-There's no difference." Dale tells her

"All right, that's enough." I snap

"Anybody who wants the floor before we make a final decision has the chance." Rick asks

There was a long silence and Rick looks around at everybody until Dale says "You once said that we don't kill the living."

"Well, that was before the living tried to kill us." Rick replies

"But don't you see? If we do this, the people that we were- The world that we knew is dead. And this new world is ugly. It's... Harsh. It's- it's survival of the fittest. And that's a world I don't wanna live in, and I don't- And I don't believe that any of you do. I can't. Please. Let's just do what's right. Isn't there anybody else who's gonna stand with me?" Dale says on the verge of tears.

Unexpectedly it is Andrea that's speaks up "He's right. We should try to find another way."

"Anybody else?" Rick asks. I say nothing, I can't, I won't risk my nephews life, I just won't do it. No one answers.

"Are y'all gonna watch, too? No, you'll go hide your heads in your tents and try to forget that we're slaughtering a human being. Whoa... I won't be a party to it." Dale says and walks away in tears.

He stops next to Daryl and I and puts his hand on Daryl's shoulder "This group is broken."


	32. Dale

I go with Daryl, Shane and Rick to get Randall and take him to the barn where he will be executed. The entire time, while we marched the kid down to the barn I couldn't help but think: What the hell are we doing?

Dale was right everyone else hid away. Rick opens the barn and Daryl marches the boy in. The kid is scared "Wait, what's happening" He asks.

"Put him over there" Rick says.

Daryl shoves him to the spot Rick pointed at and Shane ties a blindfold over his eyes and says "Don't worry, it will be over soon"

"What will be over soon?" Randall asks.

"Hey- hey. Relax" Shane says

Randall realizes what is happening and begs "No, no, no, no."

Shane hushes him as he continues to beg.

I stand next to Rick and look on, trying to keep a blank face.

"Would you like to stand or kneel?" Rick asks

"Oh, no, please." Daryl knocks him to his knees and grabs his hair and holds his head up then lets go.

Randall is sobbing his heart out by this point "Do you have any final words?" Rick asks

He's answered by "No, please. Please don't. Don't."

Rick lifts his gun to Randall's head and holds it there. He hesitates. I lift my hands to cover my mouth to hold back a scream when I hear a voice say "Do it, dad, do it!"

I turn to see Carl and my eyes widen "What the hell!" I say moving towards Carl angrily.

Shane puts his hand on my shoulder "I got him"

I nod then turn to Rick and shake my head, we can't do this! Rick nods at me and lowers his gun "Take him away" Rick says to Daryl.

Daryl looks confused but does it anyway. Shane looks pissed and storm out. I look at Carl in disappointment, what has this world done to you, to all of us. I look at Rick and then walk away. I pause at the door and bend down and pull Carl into a hug. He freezes then hugs me back.

"Don't lose yourself, little man" I whisper in his ear before walking off.

I catch up with Daryl as he locks the kid back up then joins me at the door.

"Oh my God, Daryl, Carl cheered his dad on to kill someone" I whisper to him.

"I saw" He whispers back

"What kind of example are we setting for him if he thinks that's okay?" I say pulling Daryl away from the shed after he locks it.

"He's not ours, Gwen, let his parents worry" He says back as we walk back to camp

"He's part of this group and he will grow up one day, Daryl. I don't want him growing up thinking its okay to kill people. What if we do have kids? Do you want them thinking that's okay? Because no child of mine will be brought up to thinking killing in cold blood is okay" I say to him.

He stops "Our kids…" Then I hear screaming in the distance.

I jump "Oh my God, who was that?" I ask in a panic.

He grabs my hand "Come on!"

We run towards the screams quickly. We catch up to the rest of the group who are also running for the noise.

"Dale!" Andrea screams

We get there first and Daryl throws the walker off of Dale but its too late, Dale's stomach has been ripped open by the walker. I drop to his side "Oh my God, Dale"

I hover my hand over his stomach but there's nothing I can do, I apply pressure onto the wound anyway. He screams slightly at the pain. "Shh, shh, Dale, I got you"

"Help, help!" Daryl yells "over here"

The others join us and Rick drops next to me "All right, just listen to my voice. Listen to me, all right? Just listen to me. Okay, hold on now." He says to Dale then yells "Get Hershel!"

"He needs blood. We gotta operate now." I shout over the noise of sobs and Dale's cries of pain "Just hang on for me, Dale. Hang on."

"Listen to me. Come on- Okay, just listen to my voice. All right, please. Hershel! We need Hershel!" Rick screams "Dale, we're gonna help. We're here. Just hold on- hold on."

"What happened?" Hershel asks

"What can we do? Can we move him?" Rick asks

"He won't make the trip." Hershel says

"You have to do the operation here. Glenn, get back to the house." Rick commands

"Rick. No!" Hershel says

"Oh, God. He's suffering. Do something!" Andrea begs.

Rick lifts his gun and points it in Dale's face but he doesn't pull the trigger. I stand up and take the gun off him slowly, covering the gun and Rick's hand in Dale's blood.

I point the gun and Dale's head "I'm so sorry, Dale" and I pull the trigger.

Tears fall from my eyes as I drop to my knees, my arm with the gun falls limply to my side. The irony is my hands are literally covered in Dale's blood. Nessa kneels down next to me and peels the gun out of my hand and hands it to Daryl. She then pulls me off the ground gently.

"Come on, Snow" She gives me my childhood pet name as she tries steadies me. "Daryl, help" She says.

A strong hand grabs my hip and another, my upper arm. I don't even care, I'm staring at Dale's corpse, feeling numb… I put him out of his misery but… I killed Dale.


	33. Guilt

"Daryl, take her back to the house and get her cleaned up, Nessa get her some clothes, the rest of us will prepare Dale for burial" Rick orders softly.

Daryl gives up trying to drag me half way back to the house and picks me up, bridal style, Nessa runs ahead to get me clothes. Daryl carries me into the house and takes me to the bathroom and places me on the edge of the bath while he runs it. He silently takes off my blood covered shirt off, then my boots and socks followed by my jeans. He stops the water and hesitates before taking off my bra. I nod. He does so, followed by my underwear and lowers me into the cold water that actually feels nice. He starts wiping the blood off my hands, then my chest. Nessa comes in at that moment but it doesn't faze her.

"Here are some clothes, I brought her iron tablets too, I know It's not her blood but it might give her the pick me up she needs" Nessa says quietly before slipping out.

Daryl finishes with the blood on my chest and works on my face "you okay?" He asks

I nod "Yeah" my voice is so small.

Daryl winces at it. It must be weird to see me so weak.

"Where does Snow come from?" He asks, trying to talk me out of my shock

"My eldest sister has called me Snow White for as long as I can remember" I tell him quietly "I've always been really pale with black hair"

He smiles "It's cute"

A smile twitches on my lips and he appears satisfied with that. He lifts me out of the now red water and wraps a towel around me. I feel a little more rejuvenated but still a bit shaky. He opens the pills and gives me one then fills the glass on the sink full of water and hands it to me. I take the pill and follow it with water.

I lift my hand to Daryl's face after he takes the glass off me and puts it down "I love you" I tell him

He smiles "I love you too"

"No, I really love you. You will always be my guy." I tell him

"Yeah, you'll always be mine" He says placing his forehead on mine. "Can you get dressed?" He asks.

I nod. He pulls away "I'll wait outside the door"

I dry off slowly before putting on the fresh clothes, the top is a button up and is Nessa's so the button at my boobs keeps popping open and right now, I don't give a rats ass. I step out and Daryl's eyes fall straight to my chest and he frowns

"It won't button, my boobs are too big" I mutter.

He shrugs off his denim jacket with the leather body with angel wings on the back and holds it open for me. I smile as I slide my arms into it and he turns me around and covers my chest with it. The jacket is really big on me. I feel like a little girl but I also feel loved and protected.

Nessa appears around the corner and says "We're ready to bury Dale" I nod and Daryl takes my hand as we head down where Sophia, Annette and Shawn are buried.

Dale's buried and Rick says the vigil "Dale could- could get under your skin. He sure got under mine, because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought, how he felt. That kind of honesty is rare and brave. Whenever I'd make a decision, I'd look at Dale. He'd be looking back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it one time or another. I couldn't always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us- The truth... Who we really are. In the end, he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group was broken. The best way to honour him is to unbreak it. Set aside our differences and pull together, stop feeling sorry for ourselves and take control of our lives... Our safety... our future. We're not broken. We're gonna prove him wrong. From now on... We're gonna do it his way. That is how we honour Dale."

Lori comes over to me "You need to get some sleep"

I shake my head "I'm fine."

Hershel wanders up "We're going to move you people into the house so why don't you go to the smallest room, it's upstairs and to the very back. You and Daryl can have that room, it can only fit two people"

I open my mouth to protest but Lori shakes her head and grabs my arm "Come on now"

Daryl nods at me as I'm lead to the house, I grab Andy before I'm taken much further "You got a spare hoodie or something?"

"I'm Scottish, of course I do" He replies.

"Could you lend it to Daryl" I ask.

"Why don't you give him his back" He asks

"He wouldn't appreciate if I showed everyone what's on display under here" I tell him.

His eyes widen before he rushes off. Lori laughs as she takes me into the house and up the stairs, then to the furthest away bedroom and opens the door, it's a cupboard.

"Hershel wasn't kidding" Lori mutters. The room fits a double bed and a dresser, that's about it.

I shrug "Bigger than mine back home"

She laughs a little then sits me on the bed and takes the jacket off. Her eyes fall to my chest too. "Wow, they really are big huh?"

I nod my head "They hurt my back" I tell her with a smile.

"Right get some sleep, I'll come get you later, okay?" Lori says before kissing my forehead.

"Yes, mum" I say with a smirk.

She laughs a little before leaving. I fall asleep almost instantly, my hands wrapped around Daryl's jacket.


	34. Beauty

**Daryl's P.O.V**

I'm standing on the porch of the house with Rick looking at a map to find a place to put Randall.

"Take him out to Senoia- hour there, hour back, give or take. We may lose the light, but we'll be halfway home by then." Rick says.

"This little pain in the ass will be a distant memory. Good riddance." I say.

"Carol's putting together some provisions for him, enough to last a few days." Rick says then pauses "That thing Gwen did last night…"

"Ain't no reason you should do all the heavy lifting, Gwen knows that, she used to complain about it." I tell him

"So are you good with all this? With Gwen under the same roof as Shane" Rick asks watching Shane drive up to the house

"I don't see you and I trading haymakers on the side of the road. As for Shane, as long as he doesn't try anything with her, it's cool with me" I tell him watching Shane climb out of the car.

"I spoke to him, he won't touch her, or anyone else in this house" Rick tells me. I look at Shane suspiciously, he better not, or I'll kill him, hell, Gwen will kill him.

Shane walks up and I walk away telling Rick "I'm gonna check on Gwen"

I walk into the room Lori directed me to. It's not that small. I look down at the bed and I smile. Gwen is lying on her side with her hands wrapped tightly around my jacket. She's beautiful. I don't understand why she loves me. I don't understand why she looked at me in the first place. Then I see her chest. Another button has opened and her breasts are almost on full display, if it wasn't for her bra they would be. I'm not going to lie the first thing I noticed about Gwen was her tits. It's hard not too, they are big.

I kneel down next to her and lift the covers over her better. I'm the only one who can see them. I move her hair out her face and my chest tightens. Her skin is glowing, she doesn't have a single mark on her face apart from the small scar on her temple. Her plump lips are slightly parted and all I want to do is press mine against them. Her eyelashes brush her cheeks but I want her eyes to open. Her eyes are all sorts of colours, I've never seen anything like it in my life. They change as her mood changes. She's beautiful, brave and stubborn, too good for the likes of me.

 **Gwen's P.O.V**

I didn't have a good sleep, Dale's face continuously entered my dream, his stomach being ripped open by a walker and that look of pure fear that crossed his face as the barrel of the gun hovered over his head. I bolt up straight and head butt someone's hand and scream thinking it was a walker. Hands grab my shoulders and force me to look in to the owners face. I let out a cry of relief and collapse into my boyfriend's chest.

"Bad dream" I mutter

He strokes my hair "Wanna talk about?"

"Dale" Is all I say

He understands "Do you wanna get more sleep?"

I shake my head sharply "No, definitely not! I want some water"

He nods and pulls away from me. It wasn't until then I realized I still had his jacket in my hand. I lift it up "Do you want this back?" I ask.

He looks down at my chest, I follow his gaze and notice not only the button that wouldn't close over my breast was open so was the one under it and my boobs were popping out even more, threatening to fall out. Daryl reaches over and buttons it then tries the one that I couldn't get. He pulls it and closes it my boobs strain against the material and it opens again, he tries again and it opens again. I laugh at him.

"It's not going to close, its Nessa's shirt, and it's too small for me" I tell him

He glares at it briefly before taking his jacket back and putting it over my shoulder again. "Wear it 'til you find your own clothes" He mutters

I slide my arms back through the sleeves "okay"

"I'm goin' with Rick to release Randall, I'll be back after sunset" He tells me.

I nod "I'm glad he's taking you and not Shane"

He nods and helps me off the bed. "Come on, you should eat to"

"I don't think I could, my stomach feels a bit funny" I tell him as we head downstairs


	35. Shane and Randall

Daryl kisses my temple before leaving the house and I went into the kitchen where Lori, Nessa and Maggie are. Lori notices me first and smiles "You're awake! How are you feeling?"

I nod "Better, much better"

Nessa smirks "Still wearing Daryl's jacket I see"

"Well the shirt you gave me doesn't cover my boobs" I tell her.

She laughs "Not my fault."

I shake my head and grab some water.

I see Shane out of the window up on some tower. The way he's balancing is worrying. He pisses me off but I don't want him to die.

"I'll be back. Shane's making me nervous, balancing like that." I say to the girls

"He won't fall" Lori says with a shrug.

"Still making me uncomfortable. I'm going to tell him to get down" I say and walk out of the door.

Not too far away I see Daryl and Rick put stuff in a car. I head over too Shane. "Could you come down from there? Please" I call up to him

He looks down at me surprised "Gwen? Hey, aren't you supposed to keep at least ten feet from me at all time?" He asks bitterly.

I laugh "Don't be stupid, Shane. Nobody tells me what to do. You should know that better than anyone"

Shane looks at me with a smirk "That I do."

"Would you just come down? You're making me nervous" I tell him.

He laughs and works his way down and jump the last bit and turns to look at me "You worried about me, Gwen?"

I sigh and look across the farm at Daryl and Rick who are talking then back at Shane "Look, Shane. After everything that's happened recently, it's silly to keep up this she's mine no she's mine routine you and Daryl have got going on."

Shane sighs "Gwen, I…"

"I'm not finished" I tell him sharply.

Shane smirks and indicates for me to continue "I think, well at least I hope, you have realised that I'm in love with Daryl and the feeling is mutual" I smile up at him as I continue "Don't get me wrong Shane, there was a time I thought you and I would make a good pair but then Daryl was there and I think I loved him from the get go. Then I saw Rick with Lori and I wanted what they have"

Shane is watching me carefully with sad eyes "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you need to know Shane. You need to know that no matter what you do, You won't take me away from Daryl because I would search the entirety of USA for him if needs be. Like Rick did for Lori and Carl." I say looking at him seriously.

Shane continues to stare "Rick? Do you think he can protect you? Has he ever protected you?"

I look at him shocked "This has nothing to do with Rick. I just used him as an example"

"He likes you, did you know that? He has feelings for you that go beyond friendship. You don't push him away every time he touches you" Shane snaps

"Shane!" I shout over his rambling. I look behind me quickly to see if anyone heard. Rick and Daryl aren't there anymore. I turn back to him and say quietly "Rick has never cornered me like you have, he has never made me feel scared but you have! Do you understand?"

Shane looks taken aback "I scare you?"

"Yes!" I hiss. I take a deep breath to calm myself "But I don't want it to be like that anymore. We're going to be living very closely from now on and I need to know if you can handle that?"

Shane smiles "As long as you can handle the fact I will never stop loving you. I won't scare you anymore but I can't turn off my feelings"

"I'm not asking you too. It would be a ridiculous thing to ask for. We just need to live harmoniously. No more threats, no more taunting Daryl. No more attacking people. You also have to accept that Lori's baby might be yours but it will not call you daddy. If you can deal with all of that. We're good" I tell him, the truth can be harsh.

He looks away "I'm happy just being around you. I can't leave and wonder all the time if you're alive or not. I said I would protect you and I will"

I nod "Okay, why don't you come eat something? Get out of the sun for a bit, your poor head will fry" I say with a grin.

He smiles at me "I'll catch up" I start walking back "Gwen?" I look at him "If Rick never came back, would you be with me?"

I shake my head "No. You never would have had me Shane. Not while Daryl was around"

With that I head back to the house. When I enter someone grabs my arm and pulls me into the spare room, well not so spare anymore, it's full of things now. I gasp as I'm pressed against the door, closing it.

"Why were you with Shane?" Daryl snaps at me.

I let out a relieved breath and glare at him "I was setting things straight with him in person. We're all going to be living together in very close proximity and he needed to know that his chances of ever having me are less than zero."

Daryl scoffs "And you think he will just go along with it?"

I slide my wrists out of his hands and wrap them around his neck "I do. I want to have faith in him instead of treating him like a pariah just because he has feelings for me. It doesn't seem fair"

"He has attacked you, on numerous occasions! If I didn't stop him back at the CDC he would have…" Daryl can't finish his sentence instead he grabs my head and pulls it into his chest.

"Daryl…" I mutter and wrap my arms around his waist and cling to the hoodie Andy gave him. "He won't touch me again, he promised"

"Do you really think he will just sit back as we build our lives together?" Daryl asks

I shrug "We have to give him a chance. If Dale taught us anything, it's giving people chances. Right?"

Daryl tenses at Dale's name then holds me closer "Gwen, all I want is for you to feel safe."

I pull back and looks at him "When you're with me, I always feel safe. Always have. Ever since I first met you. Knowing you were there. I felt safe" I tell him and kiss him.

Daryl grips on to me tightly and deepens the kiss when there is a bang on the door. I jump in fright and step further into Daryl. Daryl opens the door and T-Dog bursts in, not even fazed by the position Daryl and I are in.

"Gwen! We got a problem!" He says breathlessly.

I look at Daryl and we run out of the house and follow T to the shed "What's wrong?" I ask reaching the worried looking group

"Randall's missing." Rick says

"Missing? How long's he been gone?" I ask

"It's hard to say. The cuffs are still hooked. He must' slipped 'em." Rick says

"Is that possible?" Carol asks

"It is if you've got nothing to lose." Andrea replies

"The door was secured from the outside." Hershel points out

"God damn it!" I say angrily "Can't anything just go smoothly, just once it's all I ask!"

"Rick!" I hear a voice scream "Gwen!" I turn to face the noise and Shane is coming out of the woods, his face bloody.

"What happened to you?" I ask as he walks up to us

"He's got my gun! He's armed!" He yells, Oh God!

"Are you okay?" I ask

"I'm fine. Little bastard just snuck up on me. He clocked me in the face." Shane yells

"All right, Hershel, T-Dog, get everybody back in the house." Rick orders "Glenn, Daryl, Gwen come with us."

"T, I'm gonna need that gun." Shane says

"Just let him go. That was the plan, wasn't it, to just let him go?" Carol asks

"The plan was to cut him loose far away from here, not on our front step with a gun." Rick shouts

Carol grabs my wrist "Don't go out there. Ya'll know what can happen."

I shake her off gently then say "Get everybody back in the house. Lock all the doors and stay put!"

I chase after the boys as they head into the woods. I check my gun to see how loaded it is, I'm good.

"I saw him head up through the trees that way before I blacked out. I'm not sure how long." Shane tells us, pissed off

"He couldn't have gotten far. He's hobbled, exhausted." Rick says

"And armed." Glenn adds

"So are we. Can you track him?" I ask Daryl

"No, I don't see nothing." Daryl replies, looking confused

"Hey, look, there ain't no use in tracking him, okay? He went that way. We need to split up. We spread out, we just chase him down. That's it." Shane argues

"Kid weighs a buck 25 soaking wet. You trying to tell us he got the jump on you?" Daryl asks sceptically, I don't know what that means but I assume it means he's light.

"I say a rock pretty much evens those odds, wouldn't you?" Shane argues

"Alright, knock it off." I snap at them

"You and Glenn start heading up the right flank." Rick says to Daryl "Me, Gwen and Shane'll take the left. Remember, Randall's not the only threat out there. Keep an eye out for each other."

Daryl protests "No, man, Gwen stays with me"

"I got her, Daryl" Rick says.

"Rick, she's staying with me!" Daryl demands and grips my arm tightly, his eyes flick to Shane.

Rick nods "Okay"

Rick and I share a look, Shane walks off but I grab Rick's hand and whisper quickly "Watch your back, okay?"

He nods before walking off. I go after Glenn and Daryl.

We walk for a while and the sun sets pretty quickly. I walk closely behind Daryl and Glenn walks behind me.

"This is pointless. You got a light?" Daryl asks, looking back at us briefly.

Glenn hands him a flashlight. Daryl moves it around the floor before pointing it in a certain direction.

He drops the flashlight and sighs in annoyance "Come on." He says

Daryl ends up leading us back to where we started

"We're just back to square one." Glenn says

"If you're gonna do a thing, you might as well do it right." Daryl replies

"You're looking for the tracks" I say in realization.

He looks back at me and nods with a smile

"There's two sets of tracks right here. Shane must've followed him a lot longer than he said." Daryl says as he flicks the flashlight over the area.

I touch a tree and I feel something wet and sticky under my fingers "There's fresh blood on this tree" I say wiping my hand on my jeans

"There's more tracks. Looks like they're walking in tandem." Daryl says.

Glenn walks into him accidentally "Sorry" He mutters, he looks scared.

"Yeah, there was a little dust up right here." Daryl says, I see it the leaves on the floor are all scuffed up like a struggle happened.

"What do you mean?" Glenn asks

"I mean something went down." Daryl replies

"It's getting weird." Glenn says

"Shane was talking shit, again!" I seethe

"What do you mean?" Glenn asks again

"If there was a struggle, then Randall obviously didn't get the jump on him, they fought and Shane would have definitely been able to subdue a small guy like Randall" I tell him.

"Hello trouble" Daryl says picking up Randall's blindfold. I fucking knew it! I'm gonna kill Shane! He promised!

There is a rustle in the trees behind us. Daryl grabs my arm roughly and runs for a tree and pushes me behind it. Glenn hides behind the tree next to us. I peek out and see someone walking. Randall? Why would he still be in the area, he lost?

Daryl whistles at Glenn quietly and tosses him the flashlight. Daryl watches the figure closely, his crossbow at the ready. My heart rate increases when I can hear the person, or walker, breathing heavily. It sounds like a walker. It walks towards us and I pull my knife out of my belt and hold it tightly in my hand. Glenn jumps out, weapon raised but freezes when he sees the walker. It jumps on him and Glenn falls to the ground. Daryl tries to shoot it but his arrow misses and the walker goes for him instead and Daryl uses his crossbow to hold it back. I run forward and grab the walker by the back of its collar and throw it to the ground before kneeling down and stabbing it in the head. It stops moving, dead properly.

Glenn hovers the flashlight over the walkers face and I rub my face in my free hand in annoyance "It's Randall, fuck!"

Glenn grabs my shoulder "Nice one" He whispers.

I smile "Thanks"

Daryl drapes his arm over my shoulder and pulls me into his side. "We should get back and tell everyone what a big fat liar Shane is!" I whisper angrily.

"Wait" Daryl says looking confused then bends down "Gwen how did he die?"

I look at him equally confused but humour him. I kneel down and hold my hand out for the flashlight. I run the flashlight over Randall's body and feel even more confused, his neck has an angry purple bruise and his vertebrae is jutting out his neck "His neck was snapped"

"Means he was already dead, how did he turn?" Daryl asks "He's got no bites."

"Yeah, none you can see." Glenn says

"No, I'm telling you he died from this." Daryl tells him

"How's that possible?" Glenn asks

"Fuck knows, let's get back" I state standing up and walking off. The boys follow.


	36. Farm

As we walk out of the woods I hear a gunshot. I look around quickly and exchange a look with Daryl and Glenn. We know it isn't Randall. We get back to the house and I'm ready to run in there and rip Shane limb from limb but as we enter the house everyone is in the living room except Rick and Shane.

"Rick and Shane ain't back?" Daryl asks

"No."

"We heard a shot." Daryl says

"Maybe they found Randall." Lori says

"We found him." I tell her

"Is he back in the shed?" Patricia asks

"He's a walker." Daryl replies

"Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel asks

"No, the weird thing is he wasn't bit." Glenn says

"His neck was broken" I say

"So he fought back." Patricia says

"The thing is, Shane and Randall's tracks were right on top of each other. And Shane ain't no tracker, so he didn't come up behind him. They were together." Daryl says.

"I think Shane killed Randall then lied to us about it" I tell them

Lori looks positively petrified and walks up to Daryl "Would you please get back out there, find Rick and Shane and find out what on earth is going on?"

"You got it." Daryl says then heads out

"Thank you." Lori replies

I follow him outside and that's when I hear the groaning. "Oh shit!" I mutter as I see a heard of walkers in the distance.

"Patricia, kill the lights." Hershel says

"I'll get the guns." Andrea says then runs off

"Maybe they're just passing, like the herd on the highway. Should we just go inside?" Glenn asks hopefully

"Not unless there's a tunnel downstairs I don't know about. A herd that size would rip the house down" Daryl says.

"Gwen, what do we do?" Nessa asks.

I shake my head "Fight them off?"

"Carl's gone." Lori says

"What?" Daryl asks

"He... he was upstairs. I can't find him anymore." She panics

"Maybe he's hiding." Andy offers

"He's supposed to be upstairs. I'm not leaving without my boy." Lori says

"We're not. We're gonna look again. We're gonna find him." Carol says and they run back into the house.

Andrea comes back with the bag of guns and hands me, Andy and Nessa one. Nessa looks at it hesitantly "Better now than never" I tell her.

She nods.

"Maggie." Glenn says shocked as the girl picks up a shotgun

"You grow up country, you pick up a thing or two." Maggie says

"I got the number... It's no use." Daryl says

"You can go if you want." Hershel tells him

"You gonna take 'em all on?" Daryl asks

"We have guns. We have cars." Hershel says

"Kill as many as we can, and we'll use the cars to lead the rest of them off the farm" Andrea says

"Oh that's a good plan!" I compliment. She looks up at me surprised but happy.

"Are you serious?" Daryl asks

"This is my farm. I'll die here." Hershel says

"Alright. It's as good a night as any." Daryl says before jumping off the porch.

"Don't die on me Dixon!" I call after him.

He leans up and I lean down and we kiss before he runs off to his bike. I turn to Andy "Got the keys to the Honda?" I ask him

"Yeah, here" He hands them to me, "Nessa, Andy, you're in my car, let's go!"

We all head to separate vehicles. I jump into the driver's seat and follow Daryl's bike until we are at the barn, which is now on fire for some fucking reason! I drive up the length of the fence in the opposite direction as Glenn and Maggie to spread the walkers out a bit. Andy climbs out the window and sits with his legs in the car. He starts shooting.

"You too Nessa!" I shout.

"Oh God" She mutters as she leans out the window and also starts shooting.

My eyes flick to the side to see if they are hitting anything. There is so many of them, hundreds! Nessa's aim has improved shit loads and Andy is amazing. Their both doing a really good job but more walkers just seem to appear.

I reach the end of the fence and yell "Hold on!" I spin the wheel and pull the handbrake up, the car drifts a 180 and I put the handbrake back down and I drive back towards Daryl. I stop next to him and lean out the window myself to shoot. The walkers get right up to the fence and I slide back into the car and drive away. Andy and Nessa continue to shoot the walkers.

"Gwen! We need to get out of here!" Andy shouts.

"No! Not without the others!" I shout back.

"I'm running out of ammo! We won't be able to do anything!" He screams back at me.

"I said no!"

"Gwen, the farm is over run!" Andy shouts.

"Do you see anyone?" I ask.

I end up driving to the farmhouse "I see Rick, Carl and Hershel!" Nessa shouts.

I see them too and pull up next to them and yell "Guys! Let's go! Get out of here!"

Rick has to literally drag Hershel away and into the red truck. "Follow them!" Andy shouts as they pull away

"I am!" I yell back.

Andy slides back into the car and Nessa pulls back in too. Nessa is hyperventilating a little. I'm too damn stressed to comfort her as I follow Rick's tail lights.

"Where are we going?" Andy asks.

"The highway I suspect. Where we got stuck, it will be the first place everyone thinks of considering we all know there is supplies there" I say.

I see the sun rise and shake my head. What the hell do we do now? The sun has completely risen when we drive onto the highway. We drive until we reach the car's we hid under. Rick stops the truck and I stop the Honda right next to him, turn the engine off and climb out.

I rush over to him and hug him "Thank God, you're okay!" he hugs me back.

I turn to Carl and drop down next to him and hug him. He hugs me back tightly "Your mother is so worried about you!"

"Did you see them?" Rick asks.

I shake my head "I didn't see anyone but you three by the end" I tell him as I pull away from the hug I give Hershel.

"You said she'd be here. W... we gotta go back for her." Carl shouts at Rick

"Carl... No." Rick says

"Why are we running? What are you doing? It's... It is mom. We need to get her and not be safe a mile away." Carl argues loudly

"Shh. You need to be quiet, all right?" Rick says

"Please. Please... It's mom." Carl pleads.

"Look, Carl, listen..." Rick starts but Carl pulls away from him and runs into me and wraps his arms around my waist and cries. I hold him.

"Rick. You've got to get your boy to safety. Gwen, Nessa and Andy too, I'll wait here for my girls and the others. I know a few places. We'll meet up at one of them later." Hershel says

"Where? Where is safe? We're not splitting up." Rick says

"Please, keep your boy safe. I'll hide in one of the cars. If a walker gets me, so be it. I've lost my farm. I've lost my wife and maybe my daughters." Hershel says.

"You don't know that. They'll be here." I argue

"And you don't know that." Hershel says to me

"You're a man of God. Have some faith." Rick snaps

"I can't profess to understand God's plan, but Christ promised the resurrection of the dead. I just thought he had something a little different in mind." Hershel says

"We stick together." Rick says.

"Yeah, I'm not leaving here without Daryl and Lori, I refuse!" I say and sit on the hood of my car.

We wait there for ages and we keep our eyes open for our people and for walkers. I see a walker and slide off my car and duck behind it. I motion for Andy and Nessa to do the same. Rick, Carl and Hershel are doing the same thing but at the truck. I shadow Rick's movements step for step until we are behind the cars and the walker walks away. When I'm sure he's far enough away I stand up and rush over to the truck quietly.

"I don't know how much longer we can stay here." Hershel whispers

"I... I'm not leaving without mom." Carl says

"So we're just gonna walk away? Not knowing if my wife, your girls are still out there? How do we live with that?" Rick asks

"You've only got one concern now... Just one... Keeping him alive. Nature may be throwing us a curveball, but that law is still true." Hershel says.

"I point blank refuse to leave without them!" I growl at them both.

Rick looks at me torn then he kneels down next to Carl "Carl. It's not safe here. I'm sorry. We'll..." He starts until I hear and engine.

I spin around and grin and tears run down my cheeks, a motor cycle, a car and a truck arrive at the same time.


	37. Biarchy

I run up as they all stop and throw myself onto Daryl who hasn't even got off his bike yet.

"Oh thank God!" I cry into him

He wraps his arms around me tightly and he buries his face into my hair. "I told you I wouldn't die, didn' I?"

I sob loudly into his shoulder then pull back to look at his face then kiss every single part of it! "I was so fucking worried!" I say between kisses.

I land on his lips last. I pull away then feel arms lock around my shoulder "Gwen! Thank God!" Lori says in my ear.

I grab her arm tightly with one hand, the other still gripping Daryl, scared he might disappear. "Lori" I sob. Carl attaches himself to my hips.

Daryl looks between them half amused half annoyed and he climbs off his bike, with difficulty considering I'm still gripping his, well, Andy's hoodie.

"Where'd you find everyone?" Rick asks Daryl

"Well, those guys' tail lights zigzagging all over the road... figured he had to be Asian, driving like that." Daryl replies

"Good one." Says Glenn.

"Where's the rest of us?" Daryl asks

We're the only ones who made it so far." Rick says

Lori pulls away from me and I move myself and Daryl wraps his arm around my shoulder so I would let go of his hoodie and Carl remains attached to me and Lori take my hand as she asks "Shane?"

Rick shakes his head. Nessa and I look at each other, neither of us surprised.

"Andrea?" Glenn asks

"She saved me, then I lost her." Carol says

"We saw her go down." T-Dog says

"Patricia?" Hershel asks

"They got her, too." Beth says "Took her right in front of me. I was... I was holdin' onto her, daddy. She just... what about Jimmy? Did you see Jimmy?" She asks

"He was in the RV. It got overrun." Rick says and Beth breaks down in tears

"You definitely saw Andrea?" Carol asks

"There were walkers everywhere." Lori says

"Did you see her?" Carol asks

I'm gonna go back." Daryl says

"I'll go with you." I say

"No!" Lori says gripping my hand

"We can't just leave her." Daryl says

"We don't even know if she's there." Lori says

"She isn't there. She isn't. She's somewhere else or she's dead. There's no way to find her." Rick states

"So we're not even gonna look for her?" Glenn asks.

I notice the same walker from before walking towards us. Daryl notices too because his arm slips from my shoulders

"We gotta keep moving. There have been walkers crawling all over here." Rick says

"I say head east." T-Dog says

"Stay off the main roads." Daryl says grabbing his crossbow "The bigger the road, the more walkers, mo assholes like this one." He raises his crossbow to it "I got him" He shoots it in the head and it goes down.

"Right, lets get the hell out of here" I say.

Carol walks up to me "Can we swap places? I'm not fond of that bike"

"Yeah you can go in my car" I turn to Andy and beckon him over. He comes over "Carol's going with you and Nessa, I'm going with Daryl, keys are in the ignition" He nods and Carol walks with him to my car.

I walk over to Daryl who is getting on his bike "Guess who you're stuck with again?" I tease climbing on behind him.

He smirks "Wouldn' wanna be stuck with anyone else"

He starts off first and everyone else follows. We drive for half the day until there is a beep from behind us. Daryl stops and I climb off the bike first.

Rick comes walking up to us "You out?" Daryl asks

"Running on fumes." Rick replies

"We can't stay here." Maggie says

"We can't all fit in one car." Glenn says

"We'll have to make a run for some gas in the morning." Rick says

"Spend the night here?" Carol asks

"I'm freezing." Carl says

"We'll build a fire, yeah?" Lori says rubbing her son to try and get a heat in him. Rick takes off his jacket and gives it to him

"You go out looking for firewood, stay close. Only got so many arrows. How you doing on ammo?" Daryl asks

"Not enough." Rick replies. "Andy?"

Andy shakes his head "half a box if that"

"We can't just sit here with our asses hanging out." Maggie say

"Watch your mouth. Everyone stop panicking and listen to Rick." Hershel says

"All right, we'll set up a perimeter. In the morning, we'll find gas and some supplies. We'll keep pushing on." Rick says

"Glenn and I can go make a run now, try and scrounge up some gas." Maggie offers

I shake my head "No, we stay together."

Rick nods in agreement "God forbid something happens and people get stranded without a car."

"Rick, we're stranded now." Glenn says

"I know it looks bad, we've all been through hell and worse, but at least we found each other. I wasn't sure... I really wasn't... but we did." Rick says

"We're together. We keep it that way. We'll find shelter somewhere." I say, hoping but not really believing my own words

"There's gotta be a place." Rick continues

"Rick, Gwen, look around. Okay? There's walkers everywhere. They're migrating or something." Glenn says

"There's gotta be a place not just where we hole up, but that we fortify, hunker down, pull ourselves together, build a life for each other. I know it's out there. We just have to find it." Rick snaps

"Even if we do find a place and we think it's safe, we can never be sure. For how long? Look what happened with the farm. We fooled ourselves into thinking that that was safe." Maggie says

"We won't make that mistake again." Hershel says

"We'll make camp tonight over there" Rick says pointing to a ruin of some sort "get on the road at the break of day."

"Does this feel right to you?" Carol asks me, I look at her shocked

"It's all we've got" I tell her

"What if walkers come through, or another group like Randall's?" Beth asks Rick

"You know I found Randall, right? He had turned, but he wasn't bit." Daryl says

"How's that possible?" Beth asks

"Rick, what the hell happened?" Lori asks

"Shane killed Randall. Just like he always wanted to." Daryl says

"And then the herd got him?" I ask Rick

Rick looks at us silently for a moment before saying "We're all infected."

"What?" I ask confused

"At the CDC, Jenner told me. Whatever it is, we all carry it." Rick says

What the fuck. "So if we die, we turn regardless, if we are bit or not?" I ask

He nods. "Fuck" I mutter.

"And you never said anything?" Carol asks accusingly

"Would it have made a difference?" Rick asks

"You knew this whole time?" Glenn asks in disbelief

"How could I have known for sure? You saw how crazy that mo..." Rick starts but is cut off by Glenn snapping

"That is not your call. Okay, when I found out about the walkers in the barn, I told, for the good of everyone."

"Well, I thought it best that people didn't know." Rick says before walking away.

Lori grabs my shoulder and nods at me before going after Rick, I turn to the group and say calmly "Come on, guys. What the fuck? Rick is trying his hardest so stop busting his balls every two minutes"

Carol scoffs "I remember you being the leader first then Rick comes along and takes that away from you"

"I never asked for that. It just happened, Rick and I lead this group together" I tell her

"Well he doesn't seem to realise that" Carol replies

It was Daryl's turn to scoff "Rick asks Gwen to sign off on everything before he does it"

"Not lately" Carol argues.

Nessa steps forward angrily "Gwen's has been doing other things, she's not superwoman she can't do everything"

That shut Carol up. I turn to look at Rick and I'm shocked at what I'm seeing. Lori was bent over like she was about to throw up and when Rick reached for her she batted his hand away, he reached for her again and she did it again. She turns away from him and walks towards us looking distraught.

I ask Daryl to go with Glenn, Andy and Maggie to get firewood and ask T-Dog to take first watch. Lori grabs me into a hug and just holds me to her and whispers in my ear "Rick killed Shane"

"I thought so" I reply.

Her voice is shaky "Carl put him down"

I freeze, Carl… oh my God… how? I hold Lori tightly and lead her over to the ruin and sit her down Carl joins her, as does Nessa. I look at Rick and smile sympathetically. He nods to me.

That night we have a fire going and T-Dog is on watch. Daryl sits behind me and pulls me in between his legs. The cold seems to be getting to everyone apart from Andy, Nessa and I. This is nothing compared to Scotland, this is a day in august to us.

Carol speaks to Daryl and I quietly "We're not safe with him... Keeping something like that from us. Why do you need him? He's just gonna pull you both down."

"No. Rick's done all right by me." Daryl says

"Me too, he made things a lot easier for me" I tell her

You're his henchman, you're his problem solver and I'm a burden. You both deserve better." Carol says

"What do you want?" Daryl asks Carol, annoyed

"A person of honour." She says

"Rick has honour." I tell her

"I think we should take our chances." Maggie says from across the fire

"Don't be foolish." Hershel says "There's no food, no fuel, no ammo." 

There is a rustle in the trees and I stand up "What was that?" Beth asks

"Could be anything. Could be a raccoon, could be a possum." Daryl says, standing with me

"Walker." Glenn adds

"We need to leave. I mean what are we waiting for?" Carol says

"Which way?" Glenn asks

"It came from over there." Maggie says

"Back from where we came." Beth says

"Yeah." Maggie replies

"The last thing we need is for everyone to be running off in the dark." I say quietly

Rick comes out of nowhere and says "We don't have the vehicles. No one's travelling on foot."

"Don't panic." Hershel says

"I'm not... I'm not sitting here, waiting for another herd to blow through. We need to move, now." Maggie says

"No one is going anywhere." Rick snaps

"Do something." Carol demands

Rick snaps "I am doing something! I'm keeping this group together, alive. I've been doing that all along, no matter what. I didn't ask for this. I killed my best friend for you people, for Christ's sake!"

Everyone stares at him in shock, I'm not surprised, he did what he had to do. I warned Shane. He did the exact opposite to what he promised.

"You saw what he was like, how he pushed me, how he compromised us, how he threatened us. He told me he'd rather see Gwen dead than with another man! He staged the whole Randall thing, led me out to put a bullet in my back so he could then kill Daryl and, after the baby was born, kill Lori! All so he could have Gwen and the baby and act like a happy family. Then if Gwen still protested he would kill her!"

Lori looks up at him and looks guilty, like really guilty then she looks at me with even more guilt. I'm staring at Rick wide eyed and honestly feeling really sick. Daryl grips my waist protectively.

"He gave me no choice. He was my friend, but he came after me. My hands are clean. Maybe you people are better off without me. Go ahead. I say there's a place for us, but maybe... maybe it's just another pipe dream. Maybe... maybe I'm fooling myself again. Why don't you... Why don't you go and find out yourself? Send me a postcard. Go on, there's the door." Rick continues while motioning to the darkness

You can do better? Let's see how far you get." Nobody moves. "No takers? Fine. But get one thing straight... you're staying. This isn't a democracy anymore. You listen to me or Guinevere. That is it!"

I'm physically shaking by this point. Pressure, that's all I feel. Rick can't make decisions without my go ahead then fine. I refuse to take any more shit. I will say what I think from now on. I want a semblance of a life again and if I have to prod these people in the right direction then so be it.

I refuse to be afraid of living. 


End file.
